ND AG says new opinion broadens Internet gambling

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says a new federal Justice Department opinion on Internet gambling is a reversal of policy.

The department says a federal law called the Wire Act only prohibits sports betting over the Internet.

Before, the Justice Department has used the law to justify opposition to most forms of Internet gambling.

The North Dakota Legislature once considered trying to license and regulate Internet poker. At the time the Justice Department cast doubt on whether the idea was legal, and the proposal lost.

Stenehjem says the Justice Department's opinion did help to defeat the measure, but he says it probably wouldn't have been approved anyway.

He says the opinion opens the door to broader Internet gambling, but he says it's not the same as a court ruling.

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