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Online Gambling Ads; what a crime!
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December 20th, 2007 by 
Jay Westerdal
Microsoft, Google and Yahoo have agreed to pay a combined fine of $31.5 million for accepting ads for online gambling. They have all stopped accepting this type of advertising a few years ago but the fines are finally getting settled. It is a crime in the United States to allow gambling online or to enable gambling ads on US websites. This reminds me or prohibition from the 1920s when alcohol was made illegal for 13 years. The 18th amendment made it illegal and the 21st amendment repealed it. During those years “drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored Prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened; and crime has increased to a level never seen before.” The only way to control something is to make it legal so that there are structured laws around it. Blanketly making something illegal means that there are no laws around the edges to keep people safe that engage in the activity. It is far better to make laws and govern something then to ignore that it exists.
Anyone can gamble in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and on Indian Reservations. So clearly the difference between offline and online is not what makes something illegal, so then why is our country being hypocritical about gambling not being allowed online?
As a poker player, I personally think this prohibtion is wrong. From my domainer perspective, I also think this is wrong. I hope these 13 years of prohibition pass fast. I know they will pass eventually and when they do the gambling domains will be worth a lot more!!!! We all trade these domains from a lot less because revenue is hard to come by on them. Those domainers that control these forbidden domains will be worth considerably more when they come back in favor.
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Posted in Google, Microsoft, US Government, Yahoo |
December 20th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Here comes the world’s longest comment ever…
Ah yes, the infamous debate about re-legalizing gambling online. Well, to be honest. It probably won’t happen for a long long time. It’s got nothing to do with anything they say it does except that the US government can’t make bank on it, so that’s the only damn reason why it was done so quickly.
The most amusing part is actually the fact that the land based casinos (Indian and corporate owned), the horse racing industry, and believe it or not many large both public and private lotteries (state and privately owned) all teamed up for the first time, and pooled their cash and connections together, along with one hell of a lobbying army to put this law into action as soon as humanly possible. Why? Well, isn’t it obvious? It usually takes MILLIONS of dollars in startup capital, plus MILLIONS more in fees and regulation crap and lawyers and promoting and MILLIONS in whatever else you’re going to need to startup any would be profitable place of business here in the US. But online, psh, all you need is under $1M on avg to go from zero to hero, from nothing but a $7 domain and a $200 dedicated server, to less than half a year later opening your doors and being profitable in a year at the absolute worst!
So of course they are jealous, and for once, the US Govt sided with them and not into what the people wanted. And the ONLY reason they didn’t side with what gamblers wanted or what the people wanted? Because the US Government wasn’t making a dime off it, and on top of that, there was no way in hell they were going to be able to control and “regulate” it properly.
It was pretty astonishing and downright a shock to everyone I think how quickly the law was passed and went into effect. Usually you have a few months and time for appeals and all that fun stuff. Not this. It was lightning fast, and went into effect immediately.
But the flipside to this is good for you if you play poker. Because poker my friends, is 100% legal in the US online. There are two AWESOME loopholes that the allmighty gambling industry cannot sew up.
And they are:
1- Poker is considered a game of SKILL not CHANCE, and players play against eachother, not the house/casino.
2- US citizens ARE allowed to play poker online. The only reason they don’t is because the credit cards and most banks issuing ATM/Debit cards and credit cards are refusing to allow their cardholders do business with online poker rooms due to the amount of fraud. Which is their choice as a business to choose whom they want to do business with or not for whatever reasons they state. So most US players now just use Canadian cards or phone cards or even gift cards. Whatever really, if you’re that addicted to poker, perhaps you should take a breather in the first place and calm the hell down with your poker fever before you start blowing your kids’ college funds online again.
So overall, yes, you can play online. No you can’t play any typical casino games. Yes you can play poker for cash. No you most likely won’t be able to use your credit card to buy-in.
As for the ads online… as long as they are poker, from what I was told by many people in the industry, it’s 100% legal and okay. Again, ONLY FOR POKER.. NOT blackjack, roulette, baccarat or even Russian Roulette. Those are all banned, although I hear Southeast Asia has some pretty sweet Russian Roulette clubs, but the testimonials list is pretty small.
Have fun and be safe, and if you have questions, don’t ask me or a forum.. ask a damn lawyer! That’s what they are there for. It’s much safer to ask a lawyer and risk a few hundred bucks for their time than it is to go about something on what some guy on a blog said for free, don’t ya think?
Jon
aojon.com
WickedFire.com
December 20th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
I buy all those awful aged and quality gambling domains
Since the gambling ban, most poker operators don’t accept money bets from US players, like Party Poker. Are you saying that they now can?
I live in Europe, so I cannot test it.
Nuno Oliveira
CatalogDomains.com
December 20th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
What a stinkin’ rotten double standard. So that’s why my gambling domains don’t do that well. I have noticed that no gambling ads appear on those Google searches.
Every single day, on TV ads, Gus the groundhog pushes the Pennsylvania Lottery. He even has his own Christmas rap song.
So, then, it’s okay for states to run lotteries and numbers games, but if a private citizen gets caught, he or she pays huge fines and even faces jail time.
My late grandfather was a bootlegger and bookie, and I used accompany him on his “bet runs” and go to the race track with him–I loved it! Even though I’m not much of a gambler (well, maybe a little), I still love the smells and the sights of a race track. He never gambled himself and gave up drinking in 1935, but he sure made some nice side money. As far as I know, he never got caught. He had no ethical ambiguity about being involved in a gambling business, either. he felt it was his right.
I think it’s outrageous how the government moralizes about the evils of gambling but has its dirty lobbied hand in the thick of it.
My opinion: if someone wants to gamble his/her life savings away, drink until they die of alcohol poisoning, and smoke until their lungs turn black and atrophy, that should be their choice.
The government should stay out of it.
Ms Domainer
December 20th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
My question: is putting a gambling domain on a parking page illegal?
I never even gave it a thought.
Ms Domainer
December 21st, 2007 at 10:29 am
I read extensively about this, and it’s illegal in some US states to promote gambling sites, even informational ones. But not even one mention to parking sites. Why? You could say you have the domain parked for non US visitors, because gambling is perfectly legal in some countries. But I’m not a US lawyer…
Nuno Oliveira
CatalogDomains.com
January 3rd, 2008 at 8:44 am
“The spirit of man cannot be conquered”
No responsible leader shall state that he will destroy a country or a nation and its people.
Hate breeds hate.
In a shrinking Global economy, people of the world should and must learn to live in harmony.
Every one is entitled to practice their religion and beliefs without interfering with others and/or enforcing their beliefs and customs.
Everyone should be treated with respect and dignity.
It is time for everyone to open their eyes and realize that conflict and hate will only advance world destruction and the abomination of humanity.
I believe that Coexistence means peace and harmony. If we do not achieve peace and harmony soon, we will all perish. It is up to us to change the world and bring peace and harmony to all people.”
Yehuda Draiman, Northridge, CA. Dec. 30, 2007
PS
Science must be learned; it cannot be conquered. An army that can occupy knowledge has yet to be built. And that is why armies of occupation are a thing of the past. Indeed, even for defensive purposes, a country cannot rely on its army alone. Territorial frontiers are no obstacle to ballistic missiles, and no weapon can shield from a nuclear device. Today, therefore the battle for survival must be based on political wisdom and moral vision no less than on military might.
Countries used to divide the world into their friends and foes. No longer. The foes now are universal - poverty, famine, religious radicalization, desertification, drugs, proliferation of nuclear weapons, ecological devastation. They threaten all nations, just as science and information are the potential friends of all nations.
Classical diplomacy and strategy were aimed at identifying enemies and confronting them. Now they have to identify dangers, global or local, and tackle them before they become disasters.
As we part a world of enemies, we enter a world of dangers. And if future wars break out, they will probably be wars of protest, of the weak against the strong, and not wars of occupation, of the strong against the weak.