Dirty Sneaks Banning Internet Gambling

[dgridley]

Congress hopes to ban Internet gambling by sneaking it into a piece of legislation designed to tighten US port security:

http://reuters.myway.com/article/20...6194_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-SECURITY-CONGRESS-DC.html

 

[commandercody]

They have been trying to do this for a long time, at least banning them in the U.S. It's a bad thing for domainers who invested in prized casino keywords, yet the online industry is not fully governed by the government. Therefore they can really screw their patrons and the government misses out on their cut from the large legitimate ones. It's really nothing more than a save their money disguised as helping the consumers from fraudulent casino site owners.

 

[dgridley]

There are a couple concerns I have with this.. 1) Congress trying to sneak legislation under the radar by tacking it on to an unrelated bill, and 2) how will this affect gaaming sites like Pogo.com or other sites that allow you to play for potential cash prizes? Or traffic rotation sites that allow you to play lotto type games while viewing sites for a chance to win something?

They have been trying to do this for a long time, at least banning them in the U.S. It's a bad thing for domainers who invested in prized casino keywords, yet the online industry is not fully governed by the government. Therefore they can really screw their patrons and the government misses out on their cut from the large legitimate ones. It's really nothing more than a save their money disguised as helping the consumers from fraudulent casino site owners.

 

[.X.]

There are a couple concerns I have with this.. 1) Congress trying to sneak legislation under the radar by tacking it on to an unrelated bill, and 2) how will this affect gaaming sites like Pogo.com or other sites that allow you to play for potential cash prizes? Or traffic rotation sites that allow you to play lotto type games while viewing sites for a chance to win something?

I agree...this opening up a can of worms that can spread into sites like pogo and others that i enjoy playing on....I surely hope it doesn't.....It is good clean fun

 

[dgridley]

Exactly.. personally, I'd like to see less government legislation re: the Internet.. and particularly when they try to "slide" one past us!

I agree...this opening up a can of worms that can spread into sites like pogo and others that i enjoy playing on....I surely hope it doesn't.....It is good clean fun

 

[dhscott]

It wouldn't affect the likes of pogo as people are not paying to participate, or are they? I never remember paying to play Golf on Pogo! This would surely mean an end to betting online also, I guess? So no more namebucks betting

Lotteries should be exempt though I have heard, the balls unblock the tubes...

 

[dgridley]

Pogo has free or ad-free paid memberships...

It wouldn't affect the likes of pogo as people are not paying to participate, or are they? I never remember paying to play Golf on Pogo! This would surely mean an end to betting online also, I guess? So no more namebucks betting

Lotteries should be exempt though I have heard, the balls unblock the tubes...

 

[ripley]

Open question. It probably will all depend on how various government agencies interpret the new statutes. I think any kind of games of chance with a cash payout are potentially suspect, particularly if you have to pay into it yourself. Prior incarnations of this language had exceptions for fantasy football leagues, but I'm not sure if this one does or not, I haven't had a chance to read it closely.

Also I should point out that this has no prohibitions on people actually *wagering* online, what it does is target financial transactions. The new law will basically make it more difficult to get your wagering accounts funded. (What it does is prohibit online gambling businesses from accepting credit cards or electronic transfers for online wagering, and it prohibits banks and credit card companies from processing charges or electronic transfers if they are for the purpose of online wagering.)


ripley.