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David Goldstein sent this case recently:
Courts OKs Seizure Of Net Gambling Cash Destined For U.K. (Newsbytes) A federal appeals court has upheld what the U.S. government says is its right to seize revenue that was on its way to an online gambling outfit in the U.K. where the betting was entirely legal. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176123.html
The full title of the case is "United States v. $734,578.82 in United States Currency (and) $589,578.82 in United States Currency". The facts and decision are in the summary above.
The last two paragraphs of the Newsbytes report says:
On the issue of Bowman's businesses being legal outside the U.S., the court wrote: "(Bowman's) essential claim is that the district court had no jurisdiction to apply United States gambling law to a British citizen and British companies operating legal gambling businesses on English soil."
However, the court said, U.S. gambling laws "reflect the 'strong public policies' of the United States government, and the government is not required to tolerate activity that it defines as illegal merely because it affects someone who may live in a country where the activity is legal."
In plainer English, the court is saying: It's illegal in the USA. It's legal overseas? So what? Too bad.
Replace the word "USA" with France and you have an identical rationale for the Yahoo vs France case.
Regards,
Ang Peng Hwa