Jay Cohen is the cofounder and CEO of World Sports Exchange

World Sports Exchange

World Sports Exchange is an online bookmaker offering sportsbook gambling odds and sportsbook wagering lines including, football lines, basketball odds, baseball parlays, hockey odds, and horse racing track odds. Established in 1995, it is one of the pioneers of internet gaming...

 (WSEX), an online gambling

Online gambling

Online gambling, also known as Internet gambling and iGambling, is a general term for gambling using the Internet.-Online poker:Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold 'em, Omaha, Seven-card stud, razz, HORSE and other game types in both tournament and ring game structures...

 company from 1996 until July 24, 2000, when he was the first United States citizen to be convicted in US Federal Court for violation of the Federal Wire Act

Federal Wire Act

The Interstate Wire Act of 1961, often called the Federal Wire Act, is a United States federal law prohibiting the operation of certain types of betting businesses in the United States. It begins with the text:...

 for operating an online gambling company from a jurisdiction where it was legal and regulated.

As of August 2006, Cohen remains the only executive of a legally licensed (in Cohen's case, Antigua

Antigua

Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...

) Internet gambling company that has been convicted of violating United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 law. David Carruthers

David Carruthers

David Carruthers was the CEO and a board member of online gambling company BETonSPORTS plc. He served as CEO from July 2000 until July 24, 2006...

 of BetonSports

BetonSports

BetonSports plc is a British online gambling company founded by Gary Kaplan in 1995. The company was one of the biggest players in the United States online gaming market, drawing in several billion US dollars in wagers in the early 2000s...

 and Peter Dicks

Peter Dicks

Peter F. Dicks is a London-based investment manager and venture capitalist. He was the co-founder of Abingworth plc, one of the earlier venture capital funds in Europe. He is also the former chairman of Sportingbet PLC, one of the world's largest sportsbooks.Early in his career, Dicks was a...

 of Sportingbet PLC

Sportingbet

Sportingbet plc is a British e-gaming operator. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index.-History:The Company was founded by Mark Blandford in 1997. Sportingbet acquired Paradise Poker in October 2004...

 are each awaiting separate trials on similar charges, although both men are citizens of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 while Cohen is an American citizen.

Cohen's case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court, but it refused to hear the appeal. He was released in March 2004.

See also

• David Carruthers
  David Carruthers
  David Carruthers was the CEO and a board member of online gambling company BETonSPORTS plc. He served as CEO from July 2000 until July 24, 2006...
  
  
• Gary Kaplan
  Gary Kaplan
  Gary Kaplan was the founder of BetonSports.com , an online sports betting company which between 2002 and 2004 took in wagers amounting to nearly $4 billion, 98 percent of which came from the United States...
  
  
• Peter Dicks
  Peter Dicks
  Peter F. Dicks is a London-based investment manager and venture capitalist. He was the co-founder of Abingworth plc, one of the earlier venture capital funds in Europe. He is also the former chairman of Sportingbet PLC, one of the world's largest sportsbooks.Early in his career, Dicks was a...
  
  
• Neteller
• Nigel Payne
  Nigel Payne
  Nigel Payne is the former Group Chief Executive and current Executive Director of Sportingbet Plc, which operates a network of bookmaking websites, as well as the Paradise Poker online poker room....
  
  
• Safe Port Act
  SAFE Port Act
  The Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 was an Act of Congress in the United States covering port security and to which an online gambling measure was added at the last moment...