Online gambling sites see promise in new settlement

At the same time many states are looking to casinos as a way to increase tax revenue, millions of Americans have taken to the internet for their gambling fix. Despite efforts by Congress to stifle this controversial industry by passing a law in 2006 forbidding U.S. banks to transfer funds back and forth to such sites, the practice has continued almost unabated.

However, this week one popular site, PartyGaming PLC, reached a precedent-setting agreement with the U.S. Attorney's office in Southern New York to pay $105 million over the next three years to satisfy charges that it let U.S. residents play its games until October of 2006, when it withdrew from the market. As part of the terms, the government agreed not to prosecute PartyGaming or any of its subsidiaries.