And now for something completely different: the War on Internet Gambling

[Liberal Classic]

From news.com via the NYT:

http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5173154.html


Federal prosecutors have begun a wide-ranging effort to curb the growing popularity of online gambling in the United States by quietly threatening legal action against American companies that do business with Internet casinos and sports betting operations based outside the country, lawyers and industry executives say.

The investigation into the activities of media, public relations and technology companies relies on a controversial legal concept that holds that the American businesses, by providing advertising and other services that support Internet gambling, are "aiding and abetting" online casinos. That gives prosecutors an indirect way to attack the overseas enterprises, whose operations are illegal here but fall outside their jurisdiction.



Keeping the world safe for, well, something maybe.

If advertisers aid and abett internet casinos, what about all of the information technology companies which make online gambling possible? I wonder at how far this slope will slip.

Absent in the article are any references to legal grounds which provide a foundation for the department of justice's actions. If this is a new initiative, I am left wondering if any of the provisions of the digitial millenium copyright act or the patriot act have relevance with regard to this issue?



While it is illegal to run an Internet gambling operation in the United States, state laws vary as to whether the bettor is committing a crime. New York, for instance, prohibits operation or promotion of an unlicensed casino, but it does not make the act of placing a bet a crime, said Kenneth M. Dreifach, chief of the Internet bureau for the New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer.

The campaign by the federal government dates at least to last June, when John G. Malcolm, deputy assistant attorney general for the criminal division of the Justice Department, sent a letter to trade groups representing publishers and broadcasters. The letter warned the trade groups that their members might be in violation of the law by aiding and abetting online casinos.

While declining to comment further, Casey Stavropoulos, a department spokesman said, "John Malcolm's letter speaks for itself."

By sending an official notice, the government was giving companies "knowledge" that Internet gamblers were committing a crime, legal experts said, one of two main elements to the crime of aiding and abetting.

But aiding and abetting has a second element--whether the broadcaster is furthering the commission of a crime, said Jennifer S. Granick, the executive director for the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford University Law School.


Note the first paragraph in this excerpt mentions that not all localities consider placing an online bet as being a crime. If this is so why does the justice department threaten media companies as if betting by telephone or computer was a crime in all 50 states?

Also absent from this article was mention of the two main gambling lobbies: nevada based casinos and the various tribal casinos. While some casinos have tried to open bookmaking websites, established casinos are suspicious of competition.

[pinkpops]

1. The government prefers to corner the market for themselves

as an alternative to raising taxes.

[Liberal Classic]

2. A cogent point

Can't have these websites steal dollars from the state lottery system.

[-..__...]

3. How much you wanna bet this goes nowhere?

<cymbal crash> :7

[MrSandman]

4. Does this mean there will be...

Virtual gangs engaging in virtual turf wars?

[Fescue4u]

5. Already happening!

I know your post was in jest, but what you describe has already happened.

I'll try and dig up the links, but several online poker sites, including Party Poker, Paradise Poker and Ultimate bet have been attacked by hackers performing denial of service attacks.

Essentially, there were told to pay up, or they'll be shutdown with traffic, and indeed they were several times in Febuary.

I'll try and find the links for it. It was pretty fascinatin stuff.

[Liberal Classic]

6. Here are a couple of links from the UK that I found

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/articles/9676958?source=Evening%20Standard


This one from the Financial Times requires registration and I couldn't read it.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1075982726524


Didn't see anything from this side of the pond but I didn't look for very long.

Most of these extortion attempts seem to come from eastern europe and russia. The gambling industry is certianly familiar with fraud and extortion, and I'm not sure much will come of this.

Figure with the russian mob and the US justice department gunning for them you might think internet casinos aren't long for the world. My bet is that online gambling won't fall to either threat. There's too much demand. Yay capitalism. :)

[MrSandman]

8. Gunning...

with virtual bullets;-)

[MrSandman]

7. I believe you...

It is beyond absurd.