To Legalize or Not to Legalize: Online Gaming

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Gambling is a term that is used by Americans daily to refer to taking risks and making bets with money; however, due to negative connotations regarding unlawfulness, casinos and states that allow betting are urging the use of a more appropriate term: gaming.  Gambling and gaming are not synonyms for one another and as the world of gaming has undergone a surge in participation and profit, it is attempting to put into use a cleaner and more pleasing term in order to give the activity a better reputation.  In correspondence with this effort, some states are changing the ways that gaming is described in their constitutional provisions and what exactly gaming entails.
The real issue with gaming laws lately are the stipulations of internet gaming and exactly what is allowed and what is not.  Currently three major online poker companies in the United States are facing lawsuits for violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, known as UIGEA, which prohibits websites from deliberately accepting money associated with illegal online gaming  pursuits.  This case has caused an uproar among gamers and legislators alike, and renewed the argument that online gaming should be completely legalized in the United States.
Opponents of legalizing online gaming believe that it would detract business from physical casinos and reduce tourism to popular gaming locales, and allow for more underage and habitual gaming by making it more readily available. Advocates of online gaming believe it would actually prevent such problems as juveniles gaming or compulsively playing, and have already founded clubs and organizations dedicated to legalizing it.