Court releases decision in iMEGA vs Department of Justice
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Judge Mary L. Cooper, of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, released her decision today regarding the lawsuit brought by gaming lobbying group Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) that aimed to prevent implementation of the UIGEA.
The official response from iMEGA spun the decision as a major win, but others aren’t so sure. Excerpt from iMEGA statement:
“iMEGA is very pleased that the Court recognized our standing and the weaknesses in UIGEA” said Joe Brennan Jr., the chairman of iMEGA. “Judge Cooper found that banks, credit card companies and other payment system instruments are exempt from criminal sanctions under UIGEA, significantly undercutting UIGEA’s enforcement mechanism. Her ruling echoes the growing consensus of opinion that UIGEA is a fundamentally flawed statute.”
“We believe Judge Cooper missed the opportunity to affirm Americans’ online privacy rights and we plan to appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals,” continued Bernstein. “However, her honor’s decision significantly undercuts the federal government’s argument that UIGEA is a well-drafted, effective and enforceable law.”
Excerpt from 2+2 thread on the decision:
It looks to me as a non-lawyer, that:
1) iMEGA has standing based on associational stuff and actual harm, i.e. their desired commercial activity is just that, and not free speech or commercial speech;
2) but the harm involved isn’t something the gov’t is not allowed to do;
3) the Wire Act is strengthened not that it needed it;
4) iMEGA lacks standing to bring privacy challenges for individual gamblers;
5) the position of the DOJ on WTO issues is strengthened as they say based on precedent that the gov’t cannot be bound by the WTO decisions (so much for bouncing betsy).
