Still, in its offering documents, PartyGaming makes no secret that if its interpretation of the law proves wrong, the company is banking on its executives' belief that there is little that law enforcement can - or will - do to prosecute.
The company's prospectus - a British document that is not available in this country - at times reads something like a legal brief, citing American case law to support the company's position that no prosecution would ever take place. The company has already received an e-mail message from the Louisiana attorney general demanding that it cease providing online gambling in that state, but PartyGaming simply ignored the communication and waited for additional action that never came. Providing online gambling is not illegal per se in the United States, the company argues - federal prosecutors just say it is. To justify this, PartyGaming walks a very thin line. Indeed, out of the company's US$600 million in revenue and US$350 million in profit in 2004, almost 90 percent came from the wallets and bank accounts of American gamblers. The reason? The Justice Department and many state attorneys general maintain that providing the opportunity for online gambling is against the law in the United States - and PartyGaming does it anyway.
