Shortly after the International Casino Exhibition (ICE) conference which was held in London in late January, rumors starting circulating which seemed to point to a new era in online gaming in the United States.
The ICE convention brought some of the major players in the online and live gaming industries together such as Bodog, Playtech, the Ongame Network and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. 
US online gamblers had their opportunity to pay for online gambling narrowed down after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) came into force during 2006. However, they were happy to discover that there were still a number of ePayment options available to them, one of them being eWalletXpress.
It therefore came as a great surprise to US online players when, at the beginning of November 2010, they found that when trying to access their eWalletXpress accounts, they were not online. eWalletXpress informed customers that they were having technical difficulties which would soon be sorted out.
London based online gambling company SportingBet has at last secured a non-prosecution agreement with the United States authorities in terms of which the company will pay the Department of Justice $33 million. The deal was finalized with the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
According to prosecutors in America this amount represents the proceeds of SportingBet’s illegal online gambling facility it had made obtainable to US-based players between 1998 and October 2006. Peter Dicks, the former chairman of SportingBet was arrested in Louisiana in 2006 but was subsequently released. He later returned to the United Kingdom.
Prior to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that was introduced in the U.S. in 2006, PartyGaming was one of the largest online gambling providers in that country. However, they were forced to pull out of the U.S. after the Act was introduced.
This week PartyGaming announced that they are noticing an increased momentum towards the regulation of online poker in the U.S. and are preparing to make a return.
It looks as though the online casino industry is entering a new era with regards to legislation. The USA has been in the news recently with whispers of a relaxation of the strict UIGEA laws. Estonia and Denmark have also recently moved their gambling laws in line to be friendlier to foreign investment.
