Thomas Jefferson called the lottery a “wonderful thing: It lays taxation only on the willing.” In one sense, Jefferson's statement is erroneous. After all, taxing tobacco and pornography implies that the tax is imposed only on those willing to smoke or to watch. Yet these actions do not necessarily turn indulging in either act into a wonderful thing.

Jefferson's statement may be linked to Britain's tax on tea, which, when imposed on the unwilling American settlers, resulted in the tea being thrown into Boston's harbor – certainly a way to avoid paying taxes. One can only speculate on the future of colonies if Britain, instead of imposing tax on tea, had decided to raise revenues by selling lotteries on the North American continent.

In another sense, though, Jefferson was right: governments would be better off taxing and regulating an activity that many people want to pursue, even if it is not perhaps perceived as particularly virtuous, rather than outlawing it. Yet where are the Jeffersons when one needs them?

On October 13, 2006, the president of the United States signed a bill – the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) passed by Congress – to make it illegal for financial institutions to transfer payments to online gambling companies, whose services millions of American citizens were buying.