The War Against Online Gambling

Rollo

Dormant account
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Aug 16, 2006
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Tropic of Cancer
Not sure if this has been posted already, but it's the most extensive look at US and online gambling I've read. The conclusions, and history, are pretty unnerving.


The War Against Online Gambling - Updated


The US Department of Justice has consistently maintained that online gambling is illegal. In a letter to US broadcast organisations dated 11 June 2003, John G.Malcolm, the Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division,of the United States Department of Justice wrote;

"Notwithstanding their frequent claims of legitimacy, Internet gambling and offshore sportsbook operations that accept bets from customers in the United States violate Sections 1084, 1952, and 1955 of 18 of the United States Code, each of which is a Class E felony. Additionally, pursuant to Title 18. United States Code. Section 2, any person Or entity who aids or abets in the commission of any of the above-listed offenses is punishable as a principal violator of those statutes. The Department of Justice is responsible for enforcing these statutes and we reserve the right to prosecute violators of the law."

Statutory Instruments and State Laws
Known colloquially as the "Wire Wager Act," Title 18, United States Code, Section 1084(a) provides that:

"Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers, or information assisting in the placement of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years or both."

The purpose of the statute is two-fold:

- To assist the various States and the District of Columbia in the enforcement of their laws pertaining to gambling, bookmaking, and like offenses.

- To aid in the suppression of organized gambling activities by prohibiting the use of wire communication facilities which are or will be used for the transmission of bets or wagers and gambling information in interstate and foreign commerce.

The Prohibition of Illegal Gambling Businesses Act 1955 states that;

(a) Whoever conducts, finances, manages, supervises, directs, or owns all or part of an illegal gambling business shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

(2) ''gambling'' includes but is not limited to pool-selling, bookmaking, maintaining slot machines, roulette wheels or dice tables, and conducting lotteries, policy, bolita or numbers games, or selling chances therein.

Section 1952 of Title 18, United States Code, which is also referred to as the Travel Act, also proscribes interstate gambling activity by stating:

''... the use of any facility in interstate or foreign commerce, including the mail, with intent to (1) distribute the records of any unlawful activity ... or (3) otherwise promote, manage, establish carry on or facilitate the promotion, management, establishment or carrying on, of any unlawful activity ... shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than five years or both.''

The Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. It prohibits the creation or management of a gambling organization involving 5 or more people, if it has been in business more than 30 days or accumulates $2000 in gross revenue in a single day. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) is a United States federal law which provides for extended penalties for criminal acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was enacted by section 901(a) of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Pub. L. No. 91-452, 84 Stat. 922 (15 October 1970). RICO is codified as Chapter 96 of Title 18 of the United States Code, 18 U.S.C. 1961 through 18 U.S.C. 1968.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 makes unlawful the receipt by a gambling business of proceeds or monies in connection with unlawful internet gambling. It represents the first piece of Federal legislation to explicitly deal with online gambling, and it makes clear the US government's intention to stop the flow of funds from Americans to online gaming operators through criminal sanction. The Act explicity states that;

"No provision of this subchapter shall be construed as altering, limiting, or extending any Federal or state law or Tribal-State compact prohibiting , permitting, or regulating gambling within the United States."

The scope of the act is far reaching. "Restricted transaction" is taken to mean any transmittal of money involved with unlawful Internet gambling, whilst a "bet" is construed as including;

"any instruction or information pertaining to the establishment or movement of funds by the bettor or customer in, to, or from an account with the business of betting or wagering."

The Act also provides that an interactive computer service (taken here to refer to ISP's) may be asked by an Attorney or an Attorney General to remove, or disable access to any online site that violates the prohibitions contained within the Act. The site in question must reside "on a computer server that such service controls or operates." This raises the very real prospect that sites like Google and Yahoo may be asked to remove from their search engines links to websites that openly promote offshore gambling business'.

In March 2003, Paypal received a letter from the said Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. contending that its provision of services to online gambling companies was in direct violation of 18 U.S. Code 1960 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which prohibits the transmission of funds that are known to have been derived from a criminal offense or are intended to be used to promote or support unlawful activity.

In addition to the statutory instruments, eight US states have laws that specifically prohibit Internet gambling: Washington, Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, South Dakota, Michigan and Oregon.

Convictions for operating Internet gambling websites
In June 1997 a Greene County grand jury indicted Michael F. Simone and Interactive Gaming & Communications on charges of promoting gambling in the first degree, alleging that the defendants committed a criminal violation of Missouri law by accepting gambling wagers through the Internet from a Missouri resident. Springfield, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon stated at the time;

"These criminal convictions should serve as a clear notice to Internet operators that we will aggressively pursue violations of Missouri law," Nixon said. "Cyberspace is no safe haven for lawbreakers........Internet gambling presents a situation where any 15-year-old who gets hold of a credit card can turn the family den into a casino....This is an activity that clearly is illegal in the state of Missouri, and I am proud that we have obtained these convictions."

Simone paid a $2,500 fine to the state of Missouri and IGC paying a $5,000 fine and agreeing to pay $20,000 to the state for the cost of the prosecution. Simone had fought extradition to Missouri but he was ordered to stand trial by a lower court in Pennsylvania.

The first federal charges for Internet gambling were filed on March 18 1998 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, charging Jay Cohen with conspiracy to violate the Wire Wager Act, 18 U.S.C. 1084(a), and seven substantive counts of violating, and aiding and abetting violations of, the Wire Wager Act, in connection with his operation of World Sports Exchange (WSEX).

WSEX, located on the island of Antigua in the Caribbean, targeted customers in the United States through the placement of ads on the radio, in newspapers, and on television. Customers were invited to bet on American sporting events either by ringing a toll-free telephone number or, by placing bets over the Internet. New customers were required to wire $300 to their account in Antigua. In the course of an FBI investigation into offshore bookmaking, FBI agents in New York contacted WSE by telephone and internet numerous times between October 1997 and March 1998 to open accounts and place bets.

On February 28, 2000 Cohen was found guilty of violating all three clauses of Section 1084(a) and sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment. Cohen's conviction was affirmed and in June 2003, the United States Supreme Court refused his petition for review. In October 2002, Cohen began serving his sentence. WSEX is still happily trading.

At the time of Cohen's trial Manhattan U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said that the case showed that operators of illegal sportsbooks who took bets from Americans could not avoid the federal wager law by simply moving their business offshore;

``An Internet communication is no different than a telephone call for purpose of liability under the Wire Wager Act,'' she said. ``As this case demonstrates, persons convicted of operating Internet sportsbooks offshore face very serious consequences -- imprisonment and thousands of dollars in fines.''

In the State of New York v. World Interactive Gaming Corp July 1999, the Court granted an injunction barring World Interactive Gaming Corporation, Golden Chips Casino, Inc. and their principals, officers, and directors from operating within or offering to residents of the State of New York State gambling over the Internet. The court held that -

"The act of entering the bet and transmitting the information from New York via the Internet is adequate to constitute gambling activity within New York state," moreover, it stated that "the Wire Act, Travel Act and Wagering Paraphernalia Act all apply despite the fact that the betting instructions are transmitted from outside the United States over the Internet."

In January 2000, federal prosecutors in St. Louis, Missouri charged Marc Meghrouni and Scott Shaver, the owners of Paradise Casino, which operated an offshore sports book in Curacao, with violating the Wire Wagering Act, as well as tax fraud. Additionally, Paradise Casino was charged with money laundering relating to the spending of betting funds in the United States. Meghrouni, Shaver and Paradise pleaded guilty to all of the charges and agreed to forfeit a one million dollar condominium, and a 1995 Lamborghini.

In October 2001 New Jersey Attorney General John J. Farmer, Jr. announced that divisions of Gaming Enforcement and Consumer Affairs had filed civil actions against 2betdsi.com, Intercasino.com, Laythepoints.com, Sportingbet.com, Sportsbook.com,Intertops.com, BetonSports.com, Betmill.com amongst others for acting in violation of New Jersey law by accepting wagers from individuals, including minors, located in New Jersey. The suit alleged that the defendants operated illegal sports book sites where New Jersey residents, via the Internet or telephone, can place wagers on professional and college sporting events.

On December 3 2001 Gold Medal Sports, an online sportsbook which operated on the Island of Curacao in the Dutch Netherland Antilles, entered a guilty plea to racketeering and a criminal forfeiture count. On February 26, 2002, Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb sentenced Gold Medal Sports for racketeering, and imposed a forfeiture of $3,528,617.47. Judge Crabb also sentenced Pede and D'Ambrosia for filing false U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, and operating an offshore sports book, in violation of the federal Wire Wagering Act. Pede and D'Ambrosia each received a prison term of five years. They also paid fines of $100,000 each, and paid back taxes totaling $1,429,565.

In January 2002 Francis Howard, a Certified Public Accountant in Las Vegas, and Randy Moreau, an accountant in Miami, each pleaded guilty to owning a share of a sports betting business (Gold Medal Sports) that engaged in illegal sports wagers, using the phone lines and Internet. In April 2002 Attorney Bruce Meagher pleaded guilty to participating in the gambling conspiracy involving Gold Medal. He received one month in jail, five months of home detention, and a fine of $20,000. Gold Medal manager Rick McColley was indicted on February 21, 2002. He is currently a fugitive. Howard and Meagher were both convicted of violating the Wire Wagering Act.

On October 21, 2002 David Tedder was arrested by FBI and IRS Special Agents at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. He had been a fugitive from justice since being charged by the Grand Jury in September of that year with Money Laundering and Conspiracy. Information had been received to the effect that Tedder would be arriving in Chicago on Delta Airlines flight #1608, which was non-stop service from Atlanta. He was met at the gate by FBI and IRS agents and taken into custody. Tedder was indicted with conspiracy to violate the Wire Wagering Act, and conspiracy to commit money laundering (including helping D'Ambrosia move $3.5 million in Gold Medal profits from a Merrill Lynch account in the United States to Tedder's MIB offshore bank after the NFL sued D'Ambrosia in early 2000 over a false advertisement in the USA Today newspaper).

Following a jury trial, petitioner was convicted of conspiring to violate the wire wagering act, 18 U.S.C. 1084, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371; conspiring to launder money, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1956(h); and two counts of money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1957. The jury also rendered a criminal forfeiture verdict under 18 U.S.C. 982 (2000 & Supp. II 2002).

In August 2003 Tedder was sentenced by United States District Chief Judge Barbara B. Crabb to five years in prison, followed by a three-year term of supervised release and $400 in special assessments. The Judge also ordered Tedder to pay a fine of $1,060,040, due and payable immediately with interest accruing and to immediately forfeit $2,765,052 in laundered proceeds. The charges brought against Tedder were the result of an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the State of Wisconsin, Department of Justice, Gambling Enforcement Bureau. In September 2005, the United States Supreme Court refused Tedder's petition for review .

In total, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Wisconsin collected $9,318,149.67 from their investigation into Gold Medal Sports. This amount consisted of fines of $1,594,915.20; forfeitures of $6,293,669.47; and back income taxes of $1,429,565.

In March 2003 Ronald "The Cigar" Sacco, the founder of Betcris, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for illegal gambling and money laundering. Sacco had been originally indicted in April 4, 2000, with five other men on charges of running an illegal sports gambling ring that used a toll-free number in the United States to place bets in Costa Rica. In 1993, he was arrested in the Dominican Republic and charged with operating an illegal betting ring that allegedly netted $1 billion a year. He spent five years in prison after pleading guilty. Sacco had also previously been a Bay Area bookie and had a number of felony convictions for bookmaking.

A federal racketeering indictment unsealed on April 11 2005 charged Arthur Gianelli with running an illegal gambling ring that allegedly paid protection money to the New England mob. The charges contained in the indictment included racketeering, extortion, and money laundering and stemmed from enterprises that Gianelli and his associates allegedly ran from 1999 to the time of the indcitment, including an "illegal" Internet gambling operation aided by an offshore sportsbetting website.

The indictment alleged that Gianelli's group made money illegally from football betting cards, video poker machines, and Internet gambling. The ring allegedly paid an offshore gambling company called Weshtod Consultants, with offices in San Jose, Costa Rica, to take bets from Massachusetts customers, both on the Internet, at www.dukesportsweb.com, and over the telephone. Todd Westerman, 41, of San Jose, the alleged owner of Weshtod Consultants, who was arrested by customs at Miami airport, was charged in the indictment, along with his company, of running an offshore gambling office and with taking bets from US customers in Massachusetts.

In May 2005 a 39-count Enterprise Corruption indictment was filed in Queens County Supreme Court charging that another gambling ring, that made protection payments to reputed Bonanno captain Anthony "Tony Green" Urso, operated three wire rooms that handled illicit wagers averaging $250 each at 136-72 72nd Avenue in Kew Gardens Hills; 147-19 Jewel Avenue in Flushing and at a shopping mall in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The criminal enterprise was alleged to have handled about 2,000 bets a day, that generated gross revenues of nearly $500,000, $15 million a month and $180 million a year during the 28-month period covered by the indictment. It was alleged that the gambling ring relied on modern technology, including computers, the Internet, e-mail and AOL instant messaging to safedepositsports.com and a toll free telephone number - 1-800-582-1383 - that ran up a monthly bill of over $50,000.

The indictment charged that Christopher Bruno, 34, of 4022 Jean Avenue in Bethpage, New York was the ringleader and major bookmaker in the enterprise and that his partners were Joseph Amato, 40, of 439 North Queens Avenue in Massapequa, New York, who was also allegedly the ring's enforcer who ensured that its protocols and procedures were obeyed, and Dana Antal, 36, of 606 Martz Road in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

In August 2005 Christopher Bruno, 34, pleaded guilty and was scheduled to be sentenced to three to nine years in prison. Appearing before Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter, Bruno pleaded guilty to Enterprise Corruption and was ordered to immediately forfeit $510,000 in cash, investment accounts and vehicles. Among the forfeited items were a 2003 Mercedes Benz valued at $95,000, a 2002 GMC Denali valued at $29,000 and a rare baseball card collection reportedly worth as much as $300,000.

In 2003 Betcorp changed its name from Consolidated Gaming Corporation ("CGC") as part of a restructuring programme that included the acquisition of BetWWTS, a north American facing sportsbooks operator. In early 2005, the Company also acquired Sinsational Intertainment Inc an online sports betting and casino operator based in Antigua.

On April 7, 2005 the Department of Justice filed a 12-count indictment against William Scott and Jessica Davis of World Wide Tele Sports alleging that wagers placed by toll-free telephone numbers and through www.BetWWTS.com and other Internet websites violated the Wire and Travel Acts. The indictment was unsealed by the District Court for the District of Columbia on May 16 2006. It was alleged that by causing the funds to be sent from places within the United States to places abroad with the intent to promote Wire and Travel Act violations, Scott and Davis engaged in a money laundering conspiracy. They pair were also charged with failing to disclose foreign bank accounts, which it was believed they had opened in Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Singapore, Canada, Australia, and the Channel Islands. BetWWTS is still trading. Davis has reportedly left the company but Scott, according to some Australian newspapers, still hold shares in Betcorp through a family trust, although his name does not appear on any of the trusts.

Scott was allegedly charged by US authorities in 1998 with running an online book, but fled to Antigua where he formed BetWWS, which was later acquired by Betcorp for $58.6 million. Revelations in the Sydney Morning Herald also stated that he was once jailed for 'racketeering' in the eighties.

On Monday July 17 a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri returned a 22-count indictment charging 11 individuals and four corporations on various charges of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud. The indictment was returned on June 1, 2006.

The founder of Costa Rican based BetonSports.com, Gary Stephen Kaplan, 47, was charged with 20 felony violations of federal laws including: the Wire Act, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Conspiracy, interstate transportation of gambling paraphernalia, interference with the administration of Internal Revenue laws and tax evasion.

Kaplan, like Scott, formerly of BetWWTS, had operated a sportsbook in New York City in the early 1990s, but after gambling charges were brought against him in May 1993, he had moved his betting operation to Florida and eventually offshore to Costa Rica.

According to the indictment, BetonSports.com, the most visible outgrowth of Kaplan's sports bookmaking enterprise, misleadingly advertised itself as the "World's Largest Legal and Licensed Sportsbook." It also alleged that Kaplan failed to pay federal wagering excise taxes on more than $3.3 billion in wagers taken from the United States and sought forfeiture of $4.5 billion from Kaplan and his co-defendants, as well as various properties.

The indictment alleges that Gary Kaplan and Norman Steinberg, as the owners and operators of Millennium Sportsbook, Gibraltar Sportsbook, and North American Sports Association, took or caused their employees to take bets from undercover federal agents in St. Louis who used undercover identities to open wagering accounts.

The indictment also alleges that Kaplan and Mobile Promotions illegally transported equipment used to place bets and transmit wagering information across state lines and that DME Global Marketing and Fulfillment shipped equipment to Costa Rica from Florida for BetonSports.com.

The racketeering conspiracy alleges that the defendants agreed to conduct an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering acts, including repeated mail fraud, wire fraud, operation of an illegal gambling business and money laundering. Other defendants in the racketeering conspiracy included Kaplan's siblings, Neil Scott Kaplan and Lori Kaplan Multz; Norman Steinberg; David Carruthers, chief executive officer of BetonSports.com; Peter Wilson, media director for BetonSports.com

On 16 August 2006, it was announced that there had been an expansion of the criminal complaint against persons connected with the offshore sportsbook Bettheduck. Richard Anderson of Los Angeles, Darwin Mobley, of San Jos, Costa Rica, Jorge Esteban Hall Zumbado, of San Jos, Costa Rica and Houshang Pourmohamad of Richmond, CA were indicted for their roles in "an illegal gambling and money laundering scheme".

The indictment charged the quartet with;

Conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling business in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371. This count carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, three years supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.

Conducting an illegal gambling business in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1955, 2. This count carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, three years supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.

Conspiracy to launder funds derived from illegal gambling business in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1956(h). This count carries a maximum statutory penalty of twenty years imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, five years supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.

Conspiracy to use facility in interstate and foreign commerce to carry on unlawful gambling business in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371. This count carries a maximum statutory penalty of 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, 3 years supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.

Additionally, the indictment charges Mr. Mobley and Mr. Zumbado, the alleged operators of the sportsbook in Costa Rica, in absentia, with the following:

Use of facility in interstate and foreign commerce to carry on and facilitate the carrying on of unlawful gambling business in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1952. Each count carries a maximum statutory penalty of 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, 3 years supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. 3553.

On Thursday, 6 September 2006 the Non-Executive Chairman of the online betting company Sportingbet Peter Dicks, was detained at JFK Airport by the Police Department of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in repsonse to an arrest warrant issued by the state of Louisiana relating to gambling by computer (LA R.S. 14:90.3(E);

"Gambling has long been recognized as a crime in the state of Louisiana and despite the enactment of many legalized gaming activities remains a crime. Gambling which occurs via the Internet embodies the very activity that the legislature seeks to prevent. Gambling by computer is the intentional conducting, or directly assisting in the conducting as a business of any game, contest, lottery, or contrivance whereby a person risks the loss of anything of value in order to realize a profit when accessing the Internet, World Wide Web, or any part thereof by way of any computer, computer system, computer network, computer software, or any server."

On Sept. 8 Dicks was was released on bond by the New York Supreme Court of Justice. His lawyer Peter Neiman told the judge that his client's willingness to travel to the U.S. so soon after the arrest of David Carruthers clearly demonstrated that he did not believe that he had done anything wrong. Requesting bail for his client, Neiman said; "There are serious questions regarding whether New York's extradition statute permits extradition for conduct allegedly committed entirely overseas.''

A hearing scheduled for September 28, 2006 was postponed to allow New York court officials time to reach a decision. On September 29, Judge Gene Lopez announced that the warrant would not be enforced, and that Mr. Dicks was free to return to the U.K. New York governor George Pataki stated that a technicality regarding the fact that internet gambling was not a crime in New York, meant that he did not have the authority to extradite Dicks to Louisiana. Pataki said that he would look into having New York's extradition laws changed.

On November 15 2006, in the first case of its kind since the signing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 2006, criminal charges have been brought against 30 individuals and corporations in four states in connection with facilitating the operation of the online gambling website Playwithal.Com. The corporations charged included for the first time a web design company, Primary Development Inc and the communications and Internet services providers, Prolexic Technologies, Inc. and the Costa Rican based Digital Solutions, S.A. dba D. S. Networks, S. A., Inc. The named defendants are charged with enterprise corruption, money laundering and the promotion of gambling in the first degree in violation of Penal Law Section 225.10(1). The Queens DA is also believed to have initiated a $500 million asset forfeiture case.

Charging of Internet sportsbook agents
Associates of Gambino family member Frank "The Bear" Basto, Joseph P. Fafone and Joseph J. Fafone were charged with acting as agents on behalf of a sports betting operation based in Costa Rica called Bestlinesports.com. Both faced state bookmaking charges for collecting bets and making cash payoffs locally on wagers placed in Costa Rica via toll-free telephone and internet website links. Bestlinesports was recently listed in the indictment in the case of United States District Court of Eastern District of Missouri vs. BetonSports.com, as a website owned by Betonsports; although those behind the website claim that this is not the case.

In 2004 Scott Andrew Carstens and Keith M. English were charged with racketeering; accused of acting as bookmakers, collecting and paying out sports gambling bets chanelled through the Costa Rican based online betting website Safedepositsports.com.

In late July 2006 eight men were arrested and booked on charges that they were operating as agents on behalf of another Costa Rican based online betting website, BetTheDuck.com. U.S. District Attorney Kevin Ryan was reported as saying that the men collected wagers in the form of cash and checks from bettors in the United States on behalf of the website. They would then hand over the funds to "runners" who transmitted or transferred the money to the offshore firm.

The complaint against the eight charges them with conspiracy to conduct, finance, manage, and supervise an illegal gambling business in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371 and conducting, financing, managing, and supervising an illegal gambling business in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1955. Each count carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, three years supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. The complaint also charges the defendants with conspiracy to launder money in violation of 18 U.S.C 1956. Each count carries a maximum statutory penalty of twenty years imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, five years supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.

On 15 September 2006 The London Times reported that Louisiana had a total of more than 50 warrants outstanding against executives from internet gambling companies that have clients who live within the state's boundaries;

"It is believed that those targeted by the warrants include other Sportingbet directors, including Nigel Payne, the chief executive, and board members of companies including PartyGaming and 888 Holdings."

Actions taken against the advertising of Internet gambling services
The Justice Department claims that selling advertising to online casinos may be "aiding and abetting" an illegal activity and they have employed money seizures and subpoenas to outlaw the activity, in their most high profile case, seizing $3.2 million from the Discovery Network, that had been paid by PartyPoker.com and ParadisePoker.com for advertising slots.

PartyPoker said in its IPO prospectus;

"In April 2004, the Group was informed by Discovery Communications, the television and media company that owns the Travel Channel, that US marshals had seized over $2 million of the Group's funds from Discovery Communications. The amount involved was originally paid to Discovery Communications for television advertisements to promote PartyPoker.com. Court documents state that Discovery Communications was told that it could be party to illegal activity (effectively 'aiding and abetting' a crime) by broadcasting such advertisements. In October 2003, Discovery Communications told the Group that it would cease broadcasting commercials which had been pre-paid."

In his letter to broadcast organisations dated 11 June 2003, John G.Malcolm, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division,United States Department of Justice wrote;

With very few exceptions limited to licensed sportsbook operations in Nevada, state and federal laws prohibit the operation of sportsbooks and Internet gambling within the United States, whether or not such operations are based offshore. Broadcasters and other media outlets should know of the illegality of offshore sportsbook and Internet gambling operations since, presumably, they would not run advertisements for illegal narcotics prostitution, child pornography or other prohibited activities. We'd appreciate it if you would forward public service message to all of your member organizations which may be running such advertisements, so that they may consult with their counsel or take whatever actions they deem appropriate.

In April 2004 the major search engines and portals, most notably google and yahoo, announced that they would fortwith discontinue accepting advertising for online gambling sites.

Catherine L. Hanaway, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, has been reported as saying that prosecutors would consider those that accepted gambling ads to be the eqivalent of those that accepted advertising on behalf of drug dealers and child pornographers.

Hanaway's office sued Vulcan Sports Media Inc., which owns The Sporting News, alleging that from the spring of 2000 to December 2003, the latter had accepted paid print, Internet and radio advertising for Internet and telephonic gambling services, and that its advertising reached U.S. audiences. In January 2006 the Sporting News agreed to a $7.2 million settlement with the U.S. government to resolve the matter. In 2004 in St. Louis sports radio stations KFNS-AM, KFNS-FM and KFRT-AM paid $158,000 to settle allegations that they too had promoted illegal online gambling.

Action taken against online gambling portals
In a lesser known case, but one that goes to the very heart of the online advertising debate, Nicholas Drakos, who hosted a Web site known as www.internationalnetcasino.com that provided bettors with instructions on how to set up accounts with offshore sportsbooks, was arrested in April 2004 after assisting undercover detectives in placing bets on his Web site and charged with promoting gambling, conspiracy and money laundering between January and April of 2004. Drakos was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 90 days on a manual labour program and three years' probation for illegally promoting gambling. County Assistant Prosecutor Melanie Smith said that under state law, a person is guilty of promoting gambling when he or she knowingly engages in conduct that "...materially aids any form of gambling activity."

A clear warning one might think to the many Stateside online gambling affiliate websites. But in truth none of them seem to have cut back on their activities in the wake of the judgement. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 will certainly make things more precarious for such individuals.

Actions against software and payment processing companies
In November 2002 PayPal, the world's largest electronic money processor stopped processing payments on behalf of online gambling companies. Approximately 6% of the company's revenues in that year had been derived from this business sector.

In July 2002, in response to a federal grand jury subpoena issued at the request of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, Paypal was forced to give up documents relating to its relationships with online gambling companies.

Then in August 2002, the company reached agreement with the Attorney General of the State of New York to stop processing payments from New York citizens to online gambling companies. Paypal also agreed to pay the State $200,000 in penalties and disgorged profits and to cover the cost of investigation.

In March 2003, Paypal received a letter from the said Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. contending that its provision of services to online gambling companies was in direct violation of 18 U.S. Code 1960 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which prohibits the transmission of funds that are known to have been derived from a criminal offense or are intended to be used to promote or support unlawful activity.

In July 2005 PayPal announced that it would pay the U.S. government $10 million in repsonse to the claims. Prior to making the payment the company had warned its shareholders that;

"Any finding of a civil or criminal violation by PayPal...could endanger our ability to obtain, maintain or renew money transmitter licenses in jurisdictions where it requires such licenses to operate, which would materially harm our business."

In October 2001 CryptoLogic Inc, the software developer, was sued by the New Jersey Attorney General for assisting an online casino to take bets from New Jersey citizens;

"If CryptoLogic knows these services are being used to violate New Jersey laws, they're liable,'' said John P. Suarez, the assistant attorney general who is director of the agency's Division of Gaming Enforcement. "In our view, there's no question they know.''

In May 2002 WagerLogic and CryptoLogic agreed that any licensing or related agreements they may enter into in the future will contain a provision prohibiting the licensee or other entity or individual with which WagerLogic or CryptoLogic contracts, from accepting sports bets from persons located within New Jersey, unless and until it becomes legal to do so.

On Monday, 15 January 2007 shares in Neteller PLC were suspended following the news that former Directors of the company, Mr Stephen Lawrence and Mr John Lefebvre had been detained by US authorities .

Two criminal complaints unsealed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan revealed that the two had been charged with laundering billions of dollars in gambling proceeds;

" From in or about June 1999, up to and including in or about January 2007, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, JOHN DAVID LEFEBVRE, the defendant, and others known and unknown, unlawfully, wilfully and knowingly did combine, conspire, confederate, and agree together and with each other to violate Section 1956(a)(2)(A) of Title 18, United States Code. It was a part and an object of the conspiracy that JOHN DAVID LEFEBVRE, the defendant, and others known and unknown, would and did transport, transmit, and transfer monetary instruments and funds from a place in the United States to and through a place outside the United States and to a place in the United States from and through a place outside the United States with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity, to wit, the operation of illegal gambling businesses in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1955, the illegal transmission of wagers and gambling information, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1084, and the commission of gambling offenses in violation of both New York State Penal Law, Article 225, and anti-gambling statutes in other states."

"From in or about June 1999, up to and including in or about January 2007, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, STEPHEN ERIC LAWRENCE, the defendant, and others known and unknown, unlawfully, wilfully and knowingly did combine, conspire, confederate, and agree together and with each other to violate Section 1956(a)(2)(A) of Title 18, United States Code. 2. It was a part and an object of the conspiracy that STEPHEN ERIC LAWRENCE, the defendant, and others known and unknown, would and did transport, transmit, and transfer monetary instruments and funds from a place in the United States to and through a place outside the United States and to a place in the United States from and through a place outside the United States with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity, to wit, the operation of illegal gambling businesses in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1955, the illegal transmission of wagers and gambling information, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1084, and the commission of gambling offenses in violation of both New York State Penal Law, Article 225, and anti-gambling statutes in other states."

In repsonse to the arrest of the "Neteller Two" Mark J.Mershon, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation stated:

"Internet gambling is a multibillion-dollar industry. A significant portion of that is the illegal handling of Americans' bets with offshore gaming companies, which amounts to a colossal criminal enterprise masquerading as legitimate business. There is ample indication these defendants knew the American market for their services was illegal. The FBI is adamant about shutting off the flow of illegal cash."

Investment Banks
To those familiar with the Department of Justice's war against online gambling, the flotation and subsequent hyping of companies such as PartyGaming and 888 PLC represented something of a mystery, in so far as the

Prohibition of Illegal Gambling Businesses Act 1955 clearly stated that;

(a) Whoever conducts, finances, manages, supervises, directs, or owns all or part of an illegal gambling business shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

And yet, a look at the main institutional investors in Sportingbet prior to the passing of the The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, throws up the likes of Fidelity, Blue Ridge Capital, Morgan Stanley, Prudential and Merrill Lynch, all US firms. On Monday 18 Sep Sportingbet announced that fund managers from Credit Suisse had a notifiable interest in 33,014,548 ordinary shares of 0.1 pence of the Company, amounting to 7.83% of the issued share capital.



Institutional Investors in Sportingbet




Institution % Holding
Fidelity 23.269
DBS Advisors 19.375
Bonaire Investment 9.414
Credit Suisse 7.160
Deutsche Bank 7.165
Prudential 5.666
Merill Lynch 6.382
McKinley Cap MGT 3.760
Morgan Stanley 3.048
Blue Ridge Offshore 2.638
New Star Asset 2.026
Mark Blandford 1.775
Investec Bank 1.540
Dit Deutscher 0.953


Source: Industry Sources September 2006
The institutions themselves, seemed content to gamble that the threat from the Department of Justice was not real. A belief, that despite their role in the promotion and flotation of these companies, that they were somehow immune from prosecution.

However, as if losing their clients a fortune when the whole US-facing gambling industry went belly up was not enough, on Sunday 21 January 2007 the Sunday Times reported that HSBC, Dresdner Kleinwort, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank are known to be among a number of banks, accountants and law firms that have been ordered by the Department of Justice to hand over all e-mails, telephone records and papers connected with internet gaming firms as part of an investigation into illegal online gambling in America.

Case Study: PartyGaming
In the wake of the arrests of various persons associated with Betonsports, Mitch Garber PartyGaming's chief executive was quoted as saying that his company would in the future be "legally marketing in the US ...through a variety of channels - internet, television, radio, newspapers and sponsorship."

In the wake of the arrest of Sportingbet chairman Peter Dicks, Mitch Garber was further quoted as saying; "We are a FTSE 100-compliant company. If the Department of Justice has any issue with our business, I would hope they would notify us and communicate that with us fully."

PartyPoker said in its IPO prospectus;

"In April 2004, the Group was informed by Discovery Communications, the television and media company that owns the Travel Channel, that US marshals had seized over $2 million of the Group's funds from Discovery Communications. The amount involved was originally paid to Discovery Communications for television advertisements to promote PartyPoker.com. Court documents state that Discovery Communications was told that it could be party to illegal activity (effectively 'aiding and abetting' a crime) by broadcasting such advertisements. In October 2003, Discovery Communications told the Group that it would cease broadcasting commercials which had been pre-paid."

PartyGaming also stated in its IPO Prospectus that it had received an e-mail in January 2005 purporting to be from the office of the Louisiana Attorney-General, requesting that the company desist from offering its services in the US state. The company said that it had "no knowledge of the legitimacy of the e-mail or its author" and that it would dispute jurisdiction if a legal challenge were to be launched against it.

Kris Wartelle a spokesperson for the office of Louisiana's Attorney General told the Financial times that it was possible that the email was indeed legitimate;

"It is possible that our consumer protection division could have sent a cease and desist letter following a request from the police gaming enforcement division."

PartyGaming had alleged that the Wire Act did not apply to online casinos and online poker companies. Its case was built around the fact that in February 2001 United States District Court Judge Stanwood Duval, whilst looking to the actual language of the Wire Act, ruled that it "does not prohibit Internet gambling 'on a game of chance'." Duval's ruling was upheld November 21, 2002 by the US Fifth Circuit Federal Appeals Court.

The problem with PartyGaming's reasoning was that until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the matter of the Wire Act (if, indeed, it ever does), individual U. S. Attorney Generals were free to interpret the statute in relation to online gambling as they see fit. That is to say, the decision of the Fifth Circuit on the issue of the Wire Act and sports betting is not binding on any other court outside the geographical boundaries of the Fifth Circuit.

Some support for PartyGaming's argument was perhaps provided by the fact that in the past U.S. Attorney Generals had typically chosen to only target internet sports books that had explicitly taken bets by telephone.

The problem with that line of reasoning, however, was that the arrest of the two Brits, Carruthers and Dicks, and two Costa Rican citizens in the case of betheduck.com, would seem to suggest that the rules of engagement have changed. Moreover, in the case of Dicks, we saw, for the first time, the application of state laws that prohibit gambling, against a non-US citizen.

In response to the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 PartyGaming said in a statement released to the London Stock Exchange on October 2;

"After taking extensive legal advice, the Board of PartyGaming Plc has concluded that the new legislation, if signed into law, will make it practically impossible to provide US residents with access to its real money poker and other real money gaming sites. As a result of this development, the Board of PartyGaming has determined that if the President signs the Act into law, the Company will suspend all real money gaming business with US residents, and such suspension will continue indefinitely, subject to clarification of the interpretation and enforcement of US law and the impact on financial institutions of this and other related legislation. Access to PartyGaming's online gaming sites for the Group's US free play customers will be unaffected. Access for all of PartyGaming's non-US customers will also be unaffected."

And on the 13th October, after George Bush had signed the Act into law, PartyGaming declared its intention to cease all real money gaming activities to US customers;

"Further to the Group's announcement on 2 October 2006, following the signing of the Safe Port Act by the US President earlier today, the Group has suspended all real money gaming activities to customers located in the US with immediate effect. The Group's play for free websites will continue to be available for US customers."

The end of the affair?
In the early hours of Saturday 30 September congressional Republicans attached a measure cracking down on Internet gambling to a bill aimed at enhancing port security. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which was passed in the early hours of the morning, represents the first federal measure explicitly aimed at online gambling.

Hilary Stewart-Jones, of Berwin Leighton Paisner, was quoted in the Times Law Supplemet as saying that too much had been made of the Senate's Bill;

"We are reeling at the amount of misinformation that has been circulating in the past few days,,,,It's just a runt of a Bill which, contrary to reports, does not make it a criminal offence for the banks to handle these transactions. There are clear lacunae in the proposed legislation, which means that internet gambling may still be legal. The impact of the Bill is psychological more than anything else."

At its heart the Act states that the receipt of funds by electronic funds transfer and other prescribed methods in connection with internet gaming will be illegal under U.S. state or federal law, and that any breach of said law will constitute a federal offence by the relevant gambling operator. It also states that under US law, a wager must be permitted under the laws both of the customer's place of residence and that of the operator.

In a nutshell, the Act it seeks to cut off the flow of money to Internet gambling websites from the US by regulating payment systems; it will be illegal to use credit cards and fund transfers from banks to settle internet wagers.

In response to the passing of the Act, the online gambling operator 888 issued the following statement;

"...the Board has concluded that it is appropriate to suspend participation by US based customers in activities covered by the legislation. The Company will implement this suspension immediately upon the legislation taking effect and the suspension will continue for so long as the legal situation remains the same."

On the 13th October 2006 Sportingbet announced that it had sold its US-facing sports betting and casino business to Jazette Enterprises Limited for US$1. Leisure & Gaming also sold its US operation for $1, to a management team led by chief Executive Alistair Assheton.

Not likely....
Any hope that those companies that exited the US market, in repsonse to the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 may have had, that they would now be immune from prosecution, have been dashed following the arrest of the "Neteller Two" and the news that HSBC, Dresdner Kleinwort, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank are among a number of banks, accountants and law firms known to have been ordered by the Department of Justice to hand over all e-mails, telephone records and papers connected with internet gaming firms as part of an investigation into illegal online gambling in America;

A gambling industry analyst, who wished to remain anonymous concluded;

"Let nobody be deluded, the Department of Justice has made it clear that it still has within its sites any online gambling company that ever accepted a bet from a US citizen, every bank that has ever promoted or invested in a US-facing online gambling company, every bank or payment processor company that ever faciliated a financial transaction to a US-facing online gambling website, and every gambling portal that has ever advertised US-facing online gambling companies. They are all considered to be part of a huge criminal conspiracy, and as time moves on, scope for denial is becoming somewhat limited...."

Source:
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The US Supreme Court really needs to rule on the applicability of the Wire Act of 1961 to plain ole gambling, outside of sportsbetting. Other countries need to start using political tasers on the rogue US DoJ.

(I hope any other reply'ers DON'T use the QUOTE button on ROLLO'S post!!!:eek2: )
 
Robert Gonzales Attorney General and head of the US DOJ is a VERY bad guy.

Mr. Gonzalas is the same guy that told Bush it was OK to set up secret Prisons, kidnap people off the streets put them in one of these secret prisons and then torture them.

I find it Ironic that Mr. Gonzales is supposed to be the chief law enforcement officer in the US... He should be in prison.
 
This is getting pretty ugly now that they are involving the financial services industry in all this. I think they are not only trying to destroy the online gaming industry in the US, but I think they are trying to strong-arm billions in settlements as well. So, even those who have pulled out after this new cosmodemonic legislation passed could well be in trouble since the DOJ holds that online gambling was always illegal and it looks like there are other laws they could pull out of their arses besides the Wire Act. The DOJ is obviously very serious and this new law seems nastier than I thought becuase pretty much anyone can get hit with a conspiracy charge.

It's not outside the realm of possibility that neteller, partypoker, et al. could cooperate as part of a negotiated settlement, turing over information on affilaites and players. I'm sure some of these "trusted" casinos will roll right over on all its US supporters to save their asses.

It looks like this is just getting started, unfortunately - a couple anxious years are ahead until this newfound prosecutorial zeal wanes. They are prosecuting this as if they were going after the Gambino family. Jesus, I think Pokerstars, Bodog, Click2Pay and the others are either unimaginably brave, unimaginably greedy, or unimaginably stupid - well, probably all three.
 
Wow !! Long read but a good one. The DOJ will be rather busy for about the next 10000000000 yrs trying to catch every rule breaker in that post & that don't include the newbies that are starting up.

''gambling'' includes but is not limited to pool-selling, bookmaking, maintaining slot machines, roulette wheels or dice tables, and conducting lotteries, policy, bolita or numbers games, or selling chances therein.

Well, that pretty much sums up every state in our union when it comes to lotteries, that they say go toward our schools etc......... game of chance as it is, ~ it is still according to the DOJ wrong and should be punishable.

I BEEN THERE
 
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U.S. Investigates Banks With Online Gambling Ties



01/22/07 2:13 PM PT

Following the recent arrests of Web-based gambling company executives, the U.S. Department of Justice has subpoenaed as many as 15 domestic and European investment banks for information about their dealings with several gaming sites. On Monday, major gambling companies saw their shares hammered in trading in the UK, with some stocks off as much as 14 percent.

Shares of major overseas Internet gambling companies took a heavy hit Monday after news broke that U.S. investigators had launch a fresh probe into Web-based gambling.

The U.S. Department of Justice has reportedly sent subpoenas to as many as 15 investment banks across Europe and the U.S., seeking information on their dealings with companies such as UK-based PartyGaming and gambling friendly payment networks such as Neteller.

Major investment houses including Deutsche Bank, HSBC and JP Morgan were reportedly among those subpoenaed.


It is not clear exactly what information the investigators are seeking or whether the banks themselves could face prosecution. Some of the companies helped underwrite IPOs for gaming firms when they went public in the UK.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice declined to comment on reports in the Financial Times of London saying that phone records and other documents were being sought by prosecutors working in the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.

The news came just days after the founders of Neteller were arrested and charged with helping to funnel billions of dollars in gambling proceeds to overseas operations.

Observers said the timing may also be significant because the single busiest betting day on the sports calendar -- Super Bowl Sunday -- is now less than two weeks away.

Crackdown Continues
Though many in law enforcement argue that Internet gambling has essentially been illegal in the U.S. under decades-old laws, President Bush in October signed a bill that made it a crime to for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites.

Under the new law, major gambling companies such as Sportingbet and Leisure & Gaming could face bankruptcy since a significant portion of their revenue and profits came from United States-based gamblers.

Those two companies sold their U.S. operations for $1 in moves that were seen limiting their exposure to legal risk while enabling them to turn their attention to Europe, Asia and other markets.

Even before that law was passed, U.S. prosecutors had taken action against gambling company executives, arresting several current and former executives when they traveled to the U.S.

On Monday, major gambling companies saw their shares hammered in trading in the UK, with some stocks off as much as 14 percent.

U.S. Authority is Questioned
Some UK government officials expressed displeasure over the move to subpoena banks, questioning whether U.S. investigators were overstepping their boundaries in doing so. Many of the investment banks reported to be involved, however, have U.S. subsidiaries or significant American operations.

Those questions of international legal authority have long hounded the debate over Internet gambling and will continue to do so, said Christiansen Capital Advisors analyst Sebastian Sinclair.

Even though some European gambling companies have backed off the U.S. market, the sheer size of the opportunity has kept some Caribbean-based interests in operation despite the threat of the newly passed law.

"The international legal issues are just beginning to be tested," Sinclair said. "The U.S. market is not something gambling companies will give up on easily."

New Charges Filed
Prosecutors have already filed charges against several Internet gambling interests. Last year, former BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers was arrested and charged. Later, Sportinbet Chairman Peter Dicks was detained when he flew to New York City.

The U.S. government's actions are having a chilling effect, convincing the more legitimate betting sites to eschew the American market and help curtail Internet gambling, which critics say is rife for abuse and can easily be accessed by minors who would not be able to place bets in other settings.

Conversely, the aggressive moves by prosecutors will leave the less savory gaming sites intact, which may leave betting consumers at risk for fraud.

(poster's comment) After reading this it appears the U.S. Government is on a witch hunt and placing fear in legitimate online casinos, poker rooms, sportsbooks and banks and hoping for them to go down in flames. I think many of us are tired of the "fear mongering" that has been happening over the last few years)

Does anyone know the outcome of the arrests of the sportbook guys, BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers and Sportinbet Chairman Peter Dicks ? Seems they have fallen off the radar screen since their arrest.
 
misty113Does anyone know the outcome of the arrests of the sportbook guys, BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers and Sportinbet Chairman Peter Dicks ? Seems they have fallen off the radar screen since their arrest.

I think these two particular cases are still in litigation? Jeteset had an update on of them early last week, I think. Possibly Carruthers, whose attorney essentially told the court, "BS".[- in legalese, of course]
 
Rollo :

Thank you for your time in putting the original post together. I did not know the extent to which this issue had been in the courts, previously.

To add, in the thread "US DoJ Going After Int'l Banks Now?", in this forum. I posted a NY Times article from 2003. To which I think, may eventually apply in future DOJ cases involving online gaming ? We'll see.

Anyways, thank you for the post with the history / timelines / outcomes, included.


CHEERS!
 
Robert Gonzales Attorney General and head of the US DOJ is a VERY bad guy.

Casinomiester Understatement of the Year Award.

Mr. Gonzalas is the same guy that told Bush it was OK to set up secret Prisons, kidnap people off the streets put them in one of these secret prisons and then torture them.
UUHH...this was okay, those were 'offshore' prisons.:rolleyes:...and they were 'enemy combatants,' muslim, and terrorists...THIS IS A WAR, MAN...and to think, those damn citizens expected; legal cousel, a phone call, and a trial. :rolleyes:

When the American public did not get outraged at this and cry "BS - FOUL"... 'WE' never will, 'till it is much to late.
When the Supreme Court, and Congress, "looked the other way" on this, we finally turned the corner as a country, onto a very bad street, in a very bad part of town.

I find it Ironic that Mr. Gonzales is supposed to be the chief law enforcement officer in the US... He should be in prison.
True ironic 'Justice', would be Mr. Gonzales, facing a 'war crimes' trial, under the Geneva Convention.:thumbsup:

And the the present 'Don' of the Bush Crime Family, facing RICO, as well as a 'war crimes' trial.:thumbsup:


Anyway, enough off topic ranting from me. [I have very strong feelings about how this relates, and, it's just so easy with this subject]
 
I believe a major problem we are facing is the fact that many judges in the US courts are complete retards when it comes to the internet. We all know that some of the senators firmly believe in the pipes and so forth, but the following judgement once again confirmed to me that there is little hope for the "war" against online gambling.
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This is a stupid judgement!
 
I believe a major problem we are facing is the fact that many judges in the US courts are complete retards when it comes to the internet. We all know that some of the senators firmly believe in the pipes and so forth, but the following judgement once again confirmed to me that there is little hope for the "war" against online gambling.
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This is a stupid judgement!

Definitely. I can see where they would have an argument against him linking directly to the stream though. Damages? Yea right. Give them a penny and be done with it.

It's their own fault for having a stupid ass webmaster that doesn't know how to setup the server to redirect people to their main page if they're clicking a link that sends them to a direct link such as that.
 
What happens to the money that the DoJ and FBI, etc. confiscate? And like BetonSports, NETeller, etc. the US wants them to turn over gazillions of dollars to the US. ok. what happens to it?
 
What happens to the money that the DoJ and FBI, etc. confiscate? And like BetonSports, NETeller, etc. the US wants them to turn over gazillions of dollars to the US. ok. what happens to it?

Perhaps this is how the national defecit will be paid off. I believe a figure of 2009 was mentioned. Only got a snippet on UK News.
 
Ponderings....and musings...

As most know, I am a horse race enthusiast and love the ponies to the extent I play and watch them every weekend online in real time just as if I was there in flesh and blood.

Now, my thoughts are this. I deposit a few dollars online through the website into my account at the track through the webpage that loads exactly as I have done for the casinos. There are different options on this page to deposit, same as the casinos offers.

As I deposited the other day, I got to thinking, just what is different between the online horse betting and online casino betting.? I came to the conclusion of, absolutely nothing. But yet, I can deposit using a website (ladbrooks) and place a bet over the internet, through the "wires" or "pipes" if you like, and it's all legal!

Strange.....how one sees cherries (slots) as bad and hay (horses) as good...when it comes down to being exactly alike. It's all gambling on the WEB!

::::shaking head::: :what: as I mosey over to sit in the corner to continue my ponderings.........> :eek2:
 
As most know, I am a horse race enthusiast and love the ponies to the extent I play and watch them every weekend online in real time just as if I was there in flesh and blood.

Now, my thoughts are this. I deposit a few dollars online through the website into my account at the track through the webpage that loads exactly as I have done for the casinos. There are different options on this page to deposit, same as the casinos offers.

As I deposited the other day, I got to thinking, just what is different between the online horse betting and online casino betting.? I came to the conclusion of, absolutely nothing. But yet, I can deposit using a website (ladbrooks) and place a bet over the internet, through the "wires" or "pipes" if you like, and it's all legal!

Strange.....how one sees cherries (slots) as bad and hay (horses) as good...when it comes down to being exactly alike. It's all gambling on the WEB!

::::shaking head::: :what: as I mosey over to sit in the corner to continue my ponderings.........> :eek2:

The difference is the horse racing industry and the lottery's paid off Frist to exclude them in the online ban.

That is why the new Congress and Senate need to revisit this crap bill slid in the Port Security Act at the last minute and pull it. Why should americans be victimized by a EX Senator (Frist) because he made some $$$$ from the Christian base who have hated the idea of gambling and think it is a decaying factor and the horse racing and lotteries who paid to have him look the other way?????
 
The US politicians can't balance a bank statement and that's a fact. Now we have yet another permanent debt to contend with, which they will be accounting for. The internet should be treated as international waters by sheer definition. Are cruise ships going to stop gambling onboard?

US citizens are not in the mood for anything that expands the government's authority and focuses upon the oppression of individual freedom. I think they are just trying to find work for the FBI because they are such a useless department of the government. September 11 revealed them to be incompetent, uninformed and unwilling to accept their failue to protect American citizens.

Americans are waking up and it's been a long time coming. Capital Hill has a 9% popularity today and that will not fly for long. Don't underestimate the American people.

Gambling laws belong under the authority of the state. The Feds taking jurisdiction over it is an absolute abuse of power. The proceeds they are staking claim to can nowhere-near cover the cost of the operation and legal fees. It will cost the American people billions if it is allowed to continue. This country needs new sources of income and no amount of posturing, demoralizing, or creative accounting will alter this fact.
 
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My question is in all of this, I have seen nothing about any U.S banks being prosecuted for funding online gambling. My bank still allows me to use my account to fund,, as well as Chase bank allows it on credit cards. My bank also accepts wire transfers and charges me a fee with no questions. So how are they deciding who to prosecute? And will they ever try to prosecute us, the end users for gambling with our own money?
Wow, with our financial crisis you think the government would have better things to do,, like prosecuting all the crooks who have raped our financial system and left the taxpayers with the bills, as well as losing their own homes while they pay for the financial institutions.
Since gambling in my state is accessible in every city, via indian casinos, who also pay no taxes on their huge earnings, much like the financial institutions, I do not see what the difference is if I choose to stay home and gamble with an untaxed entity outside the country, I am sure it helps with global poverty, which helps everyone in the world. Global poverty is the number one topic according to Readers Digest. Lol Wake up politicians and quit regulating what we do in our own homes with our own money,
 
My question is in all of this, I have seen nothing about any U.S banks being prosecuted for funding online gambling. My bank still allows me to use my account to fund,, as well as Chase bank allows it on credit cards. My bank also accepts wire transfers and charges me a fee with no questions. So how are they deciding who to prosecute? And will they ever try to prosecute us, the end users for gambling with our own money?
Wow, with our financial crisis you think the government would have better things to do,, like prosecuting all the crooks who have raped our financial system and left the taxpayers with the bills, as well as losing their own homes while they pay for the financial institutions.
Since gambling in my state is accessible in every city, via indian casinos, who also pay no taxes on their huge earnings, much like the financial institutions, I do not see what the difference is if I choose to stay home and gamble with an untaxed entity outside the country, I am sure it helps with global poverty, which helps everyone in the world. Global poverty is the number one topic according to Readers Digest. Lol Wake up politicians and quit regulating what we do in our own homes with our own money,

Our bank blocks most funding to online casinos depending on how the payee is listed. If they think its a online gambling site they will refuse to fund them.

With States hurting for funds, if the Gov. doesnt want to regulate online casinos etc. for extra money to help clear our HUGE debt, then States should petition the Gov. to do this. I would think States would love a piece of that pie and it would help keep them more in the black then the red.

But this wont happen for many years. It appears our Government is more interested in what can hit their individual pockets and not what many of its citizens want. Other countries manage to get a piece of the pie for online gambling but it must be something that our politicians cant seem to think through or wrap their arms around it.....unless they get a cut!:mad:
 
Again, as in the battle against the financial tsunami, the US authorities should take a clue from their UK counterparts on this.
 
Chu, could you elaborate on this. The single most important step the UK took to improve there economic presence was the euro. I would appreciate more input and light on the subject.
 
I don't know how you lot can live in the U.S. - you're all just economic slaves really. Your money is herded, through rather agressive means, on to the govt's preferred gambling buddies - and your taxes bail out banks so that their bosses can then (not before, but during & after) help themselves to $100 million pay-offs. Then ,guess what - they go work for Bush, maybe in the Federal Reserve. Maybe sheep would be the better word. Your rulers basically think you're idiots...which would explain why McCain's speeches sound like he's hosting a kindergarten class - and Bush's that he is in Kindergarten.

I doubt whether Obama's gonna help much either - he's probably got other things on his mind.
 
The US "LOT" stays for the same reason the English "LOT" does. We fought to free ourselves of tyranny from other nations and our own. Our government has forgotten that Americans will fight for freedom. It is amusing that the English LOT underestimates Americans...good thing they didn't feel the same way in WWII.

If you think we are any more slaves to our government than you are to yours, then you need to brush up on your history.
 

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