With the recent surge in online casino interest the US government has taken steps to try to ban online gambling within its boarders. Land –based gambling is also outlawed in most US states. But there is an argument that an outright ban may end up doing more harm than good.

Gambling has long been an American tradition and so it was inevitable that with the advent of the Internet and the convenience and sophistication of software technology, gambling would be taken to the online arena. But based on the outcry from many anti-gambling pundits in Washington, there has been an effort to ban online casino in American altogether.

Basing their argument for a ban on moral grounds, the anti-online casino lobby has managed to keep online casinos off American soil. Therefore, Internet gambling operations are often located outside of the U.S., thus making it next to impossible for the US government to enforce any laws or take action against them. So the online casinos continue to exist and operate without being hindered in any way.

As was the case with prohibition (the banning of alcohol in America during the 1920's & 1930's), to outlaw something completely can end up creating even bigger problems. For instance under prohibition alcohol was still readily available –it was just driven underground into the illegal criminal element. The same can be said for betting. Many illegal bookmakers are out there every day taking advantage of people who are desperate and may have gambling addiction problems.

It should also be noted that while illegal gambling leads people to deal with local criminal elements, online gambling can cross boarders without affecting anyone due to the global online environment that is the Internet. That means for an online gambler, it doesn't matter if the online casino he frequents is down the road or in the Caribbean. Whereas those who want to place illegal bets have to do it locally thus increasing criminal activity in their local environment.

Finally, common sense tells us that legal, government regulated online gambling would certainly be much safer than illegal gambling and would inevitably drive illegal business away altogether.

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In its latest misstep, the U.S. Justice Department has asked a Louisiana federal court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by casinocity.com that challenges the government's crackdown the past year on advertising by Internet casinos.

There is an ancient Chinese proverb about gambling and goes like this: "If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: The rules of the game, the stakes and the quitting time.”

A U.S. trade official, speaking on condition that she not be identified, confirmed that a WTO panel had issued a final report that was "largely unchanged" from its preliminary ruling against the U.S. ban one month ago.

Since they couldn't go after the offshore operations directly, prosecutors started threatening to go after companies that aid and abet those offshore bookies. That could mean anybody who accepts advertising from offshore betting parlors, including the search engines.

Last June, Deputy Assistant Attorney General John G. Malcolm sent a letter to media trade groups warning that their members could be breaking the law by accepting ads for gambling sites. Meanwhile, Raymond W. Gruender, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, has convened a grand jury in St. Louis that is issuing subpoenas to companies that do business with the online gambling industry.

Michelle Carinci, in an interview with The Canadian Press, said the website is already being used to create a database of potential on-line gamblers.

This was as a result of regulatory changes made by the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency last year allowing Internet wagers on horse racing.

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, called the subpoenas and notice letters an "intimidation tactic to go after the messenger," rather than prosecute the online gaming sites that the Department of Justice alleges are violating the law.