Bodog's Domain Names Confiscated

[Paddy]

Ok, thanks for that Jetset. So the rumor at least is that Bodog was going to buy RTG, which was being sued by 1st Technology.

It'll take some time to fully digest this Bodog/Mohawk announcement, but as the guy says above, a guy with the Order of Canada making an agreement with Calvin Ayre to violate US law. Geez, something is very weird there.

One thing that is obvious is that Calvin is trying to create some cash flows that are not proceeds of crime. Bodog Fight and Bodog Music are transparent attempts at that, but the coppers everywhere know that the initial capital and the capital to sustain the losses all come from gambling operations, which makes those two sidelines proceeds of crime in themselves.

Perhaps he thinks that by hiving off the criminal part to the Mohawks and this Order of Canada guy, he creates some kind of break in the chain and that Fight and Music will be seen as clean money in the future.

I don't know what the Mohawks would have bought in terms of a license. Did they buy a license to Bodog.com? Before the injunction by 1st Technology?

Why would the Mohawks want to change places with Calvin Ayre as a principle target for the DOJ?

From a gamblers perspective, there are a whole lot of questions. Who now deals with all these delayed withdrawals problems? Will they disappear under the Mohawks? Isn't this a complete surrender by Calvin and one desperate last grasp at some cashflow if the Mohawks can do a better job than he did? He talks of the licensing being only the North American market. What other market does he have?

What about all the CS people? Are jobs gone at Riptown Media and Triple Crown Customer Service, or will the Mohawks use their services?

It will be interesting to see if Morris Mohawk issues any press releases.

One thing is for certain, we now have a Canadian Mohawk band openly declaring an intention to violate United States law. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.

[happygobrokey]

as i understand it, natives are not bound by any nation's laws as they are self-governing. once you get on the rez, you are pretty much free from police interference. and from what i ascertain, natives are none too happy with the colonial powers that deprived them of their lands, and would care little in upsetting these powers. also, if all the equipment lies and traffic occurs on their land, no doubt they feel that they are not bound by any other laws.

of course if a native goes into town or wherever, he must follow the laws of the land, but on his land it's his law. other rtg's still allow US traffic, so what's any different? the US law is completely stupid and arguably wrong anyway, and there are a lot of times when people decide it's acceptable to disregard some laws. speeding, jaywalking, smoking pot, smoking near a building's entrance. the anti-gambling law is no different. the americans themselves find ways to access gambling, and the providers find ways to provide it. the only reason gambling (and file-sharing) are discouraged is because it takes money out of america's economy.

i don't know a whole lot so i might just be spewing conjecture, but that is my take on it.

[lojo]

Originally Posted by CHAINSAWDAVE

I think it is a safe bet that this Alwyn Morris is putting his Order of Canada award at risk,

I wouldn't know but "I wouldn't touch bodog with your money" is all I have to say about that. Funny I said that here and can't find it via google advanced search. hmm. Must have been a concept, rather than a statement.

[lojo]

Will RTG declare?

[lojo]

In Public, I assert, my move was innocent and semi-serious heavy on the serious.

[CHAINSAWDAVE]

Google "Kahnawake and organised crime". I've felt all along Ayre was merely a puppet. This deal with the Mohawk guy may simply be a case of Ayre having been fired. For incompetence.

[lojo]

Originally Posted by CHAINSAWDAVE

Google "Kahnawake and organised crime". I've felt all along Ayre was merely a puppet. This deal with the Mohawk guy may simply be a case of Ayre having been fired. For incompetence.

Things have to be said

[jetset]

@ Paddy

QUOTE: I don't know what the Mohawks would have bought in terms of a license. Did they buy a license to Bodog.com? Before the injunction by 1st Technology? UNQUOTE

My reading of that release is that they have licensed their (specifically) Bodog brands to Morris/the Mohawks, but your comment above regarding the date of such a licensing move is pertinent imo.

The release is dated September 6, which would be after the Washington and Vegas rulings. It does not seem to contain any other date pre-dating those rulings.

But even if it did, would it hold water? The brands are still Bodog's, albeit licensed out so surely the brands would still be vulnerable as assets and/or the subject of litigation?

Manifestly so, if one looks at the current de facto situation, where Bodog's brands are tied up and they have had to resort to NewBodog pro tem.

This is certainly an intriguing development.

[Paddy]

Originally Posted by jetset

@ Paddy

QUOTE: I don't know what the Mohawks would have bought in terms of a license. Did they buy a license to Bodog.com? Before the injunction by 1st Technology? UNQUOTE

My reading of that release is that they have licensed their (specifically) Bodog brands to Morris/the Mohawks, but your comment above regarding the date of such a licensing move is pertinent imo.

The release is dated September 6, which would be after the Washington and Vegas rulings. It does not seem to contain any other date pre-dating those rulings.

But even if it did, would it hold water? The brands are still Bodog's, albeit licensed out so surely the brands would still be vulnerable as assets and/or the subject of litigation?

Manifestly so, if one looks at the current de facto situation, where Bodog's brands are tied up and they have had to resort to NewBodog pro tem.

This is certainly an intriguing development.

We do know this. The morrismohawk.com domain name was only registered on the 18th of August, 10 days before the Washington State injunctions. The domain registrar was the same outfit in Bellevue, Wa. that had the Bodog.com registration that was tied up by the courts.

The website is a one pager that looks like it was slapped together by Bodog just for the purpose of giving morris some credibility.

I think we can deduce that the 1st Technology tactic has devastated Bodog, or what was left of it. Calvin's schtick was all about online branding and that absurd story that he was a world recognized expert in it. Complete nonsense, of course, but the domain seizure, or whatever you want to call it, killed the brand.

I think this Mohawk thing has a number of purposes. The Mohawks, rather than Russians or Mafia, may be Calvin's criminal base. For instance, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission knew all about Calvin's past over a year ago and continue to license him. National Fraud Center in the US, which KGC says checks out all their applicants, initially told me they had no evidence Calvin was a fraudster. When I sent them a copy of the BC Securities ruling banning him for 20 years for what was essentially fraud, they refused to respond to any further questions.

Next to the RCMP, the Mohawks are Canada's largest criminal organization, larger even than the bikers. They are a threat to the rule of law in Canada. Police pretty well openly say they don't enforce the gaming laws against the Mohawks because the Mohawks will respond with violence.

The Russians or the Mafia would have killed Calvin long ago, in my opinion, so I'm voting for Mohawks as being his criminal roots.

This gambit then is Calvin going back to those roots for the specific purpose of trying to get his domain names back. He is likely going to have the Mohawks make that effort. They will say they are licensed to use the Bodog brand and the Bodog domain name and that they don't owe 1st Technology any money and that this action suspending the domain name must be lifted. It may be that they have cooked up a backdated licensing agreement that predates the Washington court action.

There's a serious flaw in that. Under both Canadian and US law, Alwyn Morris is a conspirator with Calvin Ayre and others to violate US laws that supposedly, well do, prohibit online gaming, whether I agree with that or not. Alwyn Morris violates the Canadian criminal code when he makes this agreement with Bodog. Whether the police are going to stand by and allow that to continue has major political implications and connections to the issues that arise from the ongoing US attempt to extradite pot politician and seed seller Marc Emery from Vancouver. There are exact parallels to that situation, which is an explosive issue in Canada.

I don't see how Morris can go to an American court and ask them to lift an order on the Bodog domain name that would then facilitate his own forays into breaking American law. I'd say the US courts would tell him to stick his "sovereign Mohawk nation" straight up his arse. They might arrest him on the spot.

From a gaming perspective, I hope Casinomeister looks into the unspoken victims in all of this, those with money on deposit at the existing Bodog. Now that the Mohawks supposedly control Bodog interests in North America, who pays out the money on deposit with old Bodog. You certainly seem to have the smarts to do that here from what I've seen so far.

The Cold Eye is going to be publishing something later today to do with the very serious national issues that arise in Canada out of this bizarre scheme. I am going to ask how Morris' membership in the very prestigious order of Canada can conceivably be maintained given Ayre's accusation that he has engaged him in a transparent criminal conspiracy. The Order of Canada is revoked upon any criminal conviction. What could conceivably be going through Alwyn Morris' cabeza to become involved in this?

For everyone's information, there was a post put up last night on Major Wager which was little more than the Bodog press release copied from here and credited to Jetset. It disappeared overnight. I find that very odd. Major Wager usually publishes Bodog press releases verbatim.

[lots0]

What a great story... The rise and fall of BoDog...

One of these days I am gonna sit down and write a book about all the strange people and bizarre things I've seen (and done) in the online casino/poker business...