October 7, 2005

'Cutting the Wire: Gaming Prohibition and the Internet'

By NINA C. AYOUB

As U.S. attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy was a bookies' nightmare. He hated gambling. His wrath was incurred not by bets between friends, says David G. Schwartz, or by casual poker games (Kennedy's own Justice team indulged), but by the activities of oddsmakers that fed into organized crime.

In 1961, the AG saw a pet piece of legislation, the Wire Act, pass Congress and receive his brother's signature. While the law was never the weapon against wiseguys that Kennedy hoped