In a development that could signal a shift in the murky and unregulated world of online gambling, the parent company of one of the most popular Internet poker sites said today it has agreed to pay the U.S. government $105 million to settle charges that it illegally offered gambling to players in the United States.

PartyGaming Plc, the publicly traded parent of the Web site PartyGaming, said it would pay the money over three years as part of a "Non-Prosecution Agreement" it recently reached with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

Prior to the enactment of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in October 2006, PartyGaming operated one of the largest and most active Internet poker sites in the U.S. The company immediately withdrew from the U.S. market and stopped accepting U.S. players, which caused a dive in its earnings and stock price. Nevertheless Justice Department prosecutors continued to consider charges against the company for targeting U.S. players before 2006, contending that previous laws also outlawed Internet gambling.

I for one obviously would love to see online gambling legalized, you??? Read the full article here...