The Internet has become so much a fixture of American life. Children from the start of school-age now see it as a substitute for many reference books. Most news in the newspaper is simply the same story that we read yesterday on the Net. Still, the promise of a new society structured around the Internet has not come to fruition. The expectations of the information-super-highway have gone unfulfilled. This is perhaps because we misunderstood the Internet or, more likely, that we expected too much, too soon from a pioneering technology. The only place to begin an exploration of Internet gambling is to understand the Internet and its limitations and potential.
The Internet is a complex web of computer networks. It allows a person in one place in the world to communicate using his or her computer with another person located in another place in the world. So, a person sitting in his den in Lakewood, Ohio, can communicate over his or her computer with another person in the Caribbean, England or Australia. This ability costs no more than the price of a basic computer or WebTV™ box, a small monthly fee, if any, to the company that provides access to the Internet.