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DOJ 'did not address' lotteries in Wire Act opinion, Deputy AG Rosenstein says in memoNews Story
A new memo from the US Department of Justice says that state lotteries are not at all impacted by the DOJ's reinterpretation of the Wire Act, a development that could mean the end of a federal court case brought earlier this year. (See New Hampshire sues DOJ over new Wire Act ruling, Lottery Post, Feb. 15, 2019.) The latest filing from the DOJ can be found below, including a memo signed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. There, he talks about the Office of Legal Counsel opinion off
Apr 10, 2019, 4:23 pm - Lottery News

Florida Lottery will go offline for systems upgrade on April 15News Story
Florida Lottery officials say they don't anticipate problems as a multimillion-dollar upgrade of a vending system goes into place this month. But rather than press their luck, players are urged to buy earlier than normal as the new system is expected to require the main office to go offline for several hours April 15. The vast majority of the upgrade will occur overnight on the 15th, causing minimal inconvenience, lottery spokeswoman Keri Nucatola said. Still, we are encouraging our frequ
Apr 1, 2019, 4:48 pm - Lottery News

NJ joins DOJ lawsuit over Wire Act interpretationNews Story
New Jersey is joining New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and several lottery companies in a suit seeking to invalidate the U.S. Department of Justice's legal ruling last year which critics said could hurt the state's multibillion-dollar online gaming and sports betting industries, Attorney Gurbir Grewal announced Monday. Grewal, in the amicus brief filed March 8 in the United States District Court for New Hampshire, is seeking nationwide relief of the DOJ's reinterpretation of the federal Wire Act
Mar 12, 2019, 9:18 am - Lottery News

Appeal almost inevitable in Wire Act reinterpretation case, expert saysNews Story
Big changes could be on the horizon for the gaming industry if the January reinterpretation of the federal Wire Act becomes a U.S. Justice Department mandate. But how likely is that to happen? Three law professors at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law tackled that question Thursday in a Moot Court presentation. Broadly, the reinterpretation could further restrict internet gambling. The Justice Department reversed some of the stances it made in 2011, when it interpreted the law to ba
Mar 11, 2019, 9:43 am - Lottery News

State lotteries line up against DOJ reversal on Wire ActNews Story
State lotteries continue to fight back against a January Department of Justice reversal of its interpretation of the Wire Act, threatening every form of online gambling in the country. (See DOJ reverses 2011 opinion of the Wire Act; legal online gaming in question, Lottery Post, Jan. 14, 2019.) Now the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania joined a New Hampshire lawsuit challenging the validity of the new Wire Act opinion. Before joining the lawsuit, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro co
Mar 11, 2019, 9:26 am - Lottery News

Illinois Lottery glitch causes trouble for retailers, including overpayment to winnersNews Story
The Illinois Lottery's transition to a new central gaming system has caused trouble for some retailers, including overpayments to winners. The ticket validation issue was discovered Feb. 20 and resolved the same day, said Illinois Lottery spokesman Jason Schaumburg, who didn't know how much extra money was awarded. Stores that paid out incorrect winnings can be reimbursed if they submit a written account of the error to the central lottery office in Springfield, said Bill Fleischli, the ex
Mar 4, 2019, 3:20 pm - Lottery News

NM Lottery Pick 4 computerized drawing glitch made many tickets worthlessNews Story
Players can get a refund IF they held onto losing tickets By Todd Northrop When the New Mexico Lottery introduced its latest lottery draw game, Pick 4, in early February, players had no idea that many of the tickets they purchased were completely worthless with no chance of winning. That's because the game's computerized drawings were incorrectly programmed, making combinations with repeat digits impossible to be drawn. Only combinations in which every digit was different were able to b
Feb 21, 2019, 7:25 pm - Lottery News

New Hampshire sues DOJ over new Wire Act rulingNews Story
New Hampshire on Friday became the first state to legally challenge last month's U.S. Department of Justice decision to revise the Federal Wire Act, filing a federal lawsuit that would halt enforcement of the opinion that could keep the state from selling lottery tickets online. The state is asking a U.S. District Court judge to vacate the 23-page opinion from the Department's Office of Legal Counsel, confirm that the Wire Act does not apply to state lotteries, and permanently keep the Justic
Feb 15, 2019, 5:25 pm - Lottery News

NH Lottery considers legal action after U.S. Justice Department questions online salesNews Story
The New Hampshire Lottery is contemplating a lawsuit after the U.S. Justice Department deemed online lottery sales illegal. The New Hampshire Lottery says it had the most successful launch of internet lottery sales in the country last year. Now, it says the move by the Justice Department could cost the state millions in school funding. We started selling on the internet scratch tickets, Powerball and Mega Millions, said Charlie McIntyre, executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery. It
Feb 11, 2019, 8:36 pm - Lottery News

Identical winning numbers crop up in hundreds of U.S. lotteries. Are the drawings really random?News Story
By Jason Clayworth America's popular and lucrative lottery drawings, in which computers randomly select numbers that turn a lucky few into instant millionaires, may not be as random as they seem. In dozens of the games across the United States, identical winning numbers have been generated within weeks or months of each other sometimes in consecutive drawings, a Des Moines Register investigation shows. Lottery officials, even some who have previously acknowledged concern with the nation
Jan 31, 2019, 11:49 am - Lottery News