In a draft paper posted on SSRN, someone argues that the U.S. online gambling ban was not about public morals-type issues at all, but solely about keeping gambling revenues in the U.S. (The author is Dana Gale -- I'm not sure who that is, and SSRN provided no identifying information.)
The abstract for the paper states:
While the Act's proponents cite protecting family values and preventing money laundering and terrorism as the motivation for the legislation, the actual purpose of the Act seems to be economic in nature. [...] legislators promoting the Act recognize the profit that is made from Internet gambling outside of the U.S. and want to keep that money in the country to stimulate our economy. If the Act were truly about protecting the morals of society, it would have banned all gambling; instead, the Act carves-out exceptions for State lotteries, horseracing, gambling on Tribal land, and fantasy sports. Gambling is gambling, whether in the U.S. or abroad, and underage gamblers have just as much access to U.S. casinos and lotteries as they do to online gambling sites. This Act has one purpose: to exclude foreign gambling entities while allowing domestic gambling to continue.
While I'm not convinced that this was the only reason for its passage, it's certainly possible that it was a contributing factor.
UPDATE: At least some U.S. gambling interests say they oppose the ban.
