Internet gambling is a scourge and a plague, a magnet for crime and corruption. Or it’s a blessing and an economic boon — and a digital-era inevitability that we should tax and regulate. Or maybe online gambling is mere fiscal snake oil, a sham panacea that causes more social and economic woes than it solves.

In this ongoing debate, some voices are louder than others. And a recent legal opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice has everyone listening. Its reinterpretation of the 1961 Wire Act says the law forbids interstate, or cross-border, transmissions of all forms of gambling online. “Having been asked to reconsider, we now conclude that the statutory prohibitions are not uniformly limited to gambling on sports events or contests,” a DOJ attorney wrote. Translation: Any kind of internet gambling violates the Wire Act.