Banks Don't Like Idea Of Having To Pay For Crackdown On Online Gambling

from the wrong-focus dept

One of the problems with government regulations is that they don’t exist in a vacuum; it’s hard to implement something in isolation without causing unintended consequences. We’ve already seen this in the crackdown on online gambling, as the arrest of the BETonSPORTS CEO only served to keep industry executives from meeting in the US. Now banks are stepping up to oppose the anti-gambling measures before congress, citing a technical challenge in implementing a block on money transfers to gambling sites. The current system isn’t designed to indicate what type of business is on the other end of the transfer, meaning a significant overhaul — at the bank’s expense — would likely be required. Like issues of ISP liability for illegal activity done by their users, targeting banks places an undue burden on the wrong party. If the government insists on criminalizing voluntary online activity, then it should target the actual perpetrators, not companies that are ill-equipped to deal with the problem.


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Comments on “Banks Don't Like Idea Of Having To Pay For Crackdown On Online Gambling”

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21 Comments
Belligerent0001 says:

Re: Legalize

How DARE you…..How dare you make friggan sense!!!! If they legalize it they (the gov’ment) won’t be able to bitch about not having enough money to give to those who don’t want to work and or contribute to society….I am offended by your damn Vulcan logic! Legalize it…Shesh

Ryan says:

one of these days, somebody is going to invent the concept of personal responsibility and we’ll see an end to stupid laws like this.

“oh, i lost my money on a flaky website… my bad, won’t do that again”

sounds a lot better than the current

“oh, my kid took my credit card and lost it online… that’s the online site’s fault.. my govt should have protected me from that..”

Anonymous Coward says:

what about middle men like paypal. are they banks? western union? money transfer centers? would they fall into the law?

i’ve suggested taxing on many threads, however i have realized it’s not that easy.

how would you tax company A located in the the united kingdom of go |= l_ l( |( 0l=l=. they don’t have to follow US laws. and the US can’t go after them, unless there is some extradition treaty, right? if someone could suggest a proper way to do this, i’d be for it.

however, i doubt there’s a way to ensure that a site will NEVER be considered a gambling site.

don't let the bookies know about me... says:

but the bookies....

From my understanding of Bet on Sports, wasn’t it really like a social networking site where the users shared a common interest on sports lines (available in any sports page of a newspaper). It just happens that there are 2 types of users – the gamblers and the illegal bookies, and this site eases the meeting of the 2 parties?

Even though this activity takes place in cyberspace, isn’t it still illegal for these bookies?

Anonymous Coward says:

here’s the thing with “cyber crime” whos jurisdiction is it?

if i break a law in contry a, while me, and my servers are located in country b, where it is legal, am i really breaking the law?

i mean, you don’t have to pay state sales tax for items purchases over the inet if you live in another state.

so…with that being said…it’s like the grockster case. we don’t host servers and what not of illegal music, we just wrote a program where people could share music. it’s not our fault the users do illegal activities.

and no, id on’t think loteries and horse betting will be deemed “evil” but that’s only becuse the gov regulated them and get’s a nice tax cut from them.

Poker Wizard says:

Morality

When are governments going to figure out you cant make laws about moral issues. My house, my money, If I want to play, let me. I have worked for several online gambling companies and am a systems architect. The companies themselves regulate the industry betting than any government. In place like gibralter, the check the company has to go through are on the same level as nevada. The government just doesnt want competion. research some of the WTO issues on gambling with USA vs Antigua.

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Morality

it is not a moral issue- it is a corruption issue. the politican depend on their own gambling programs to bilk the public – lottery tickets and the heavily taxed horse tracks, dog tracks, and casinos. of course those industries also pay to keep the incumbants in power so the incumbenat protect them from overseas competition.

the us is violating international free trade treaties when it does this- not just my opininion, but international courts have ruled.

Louis says:

Poker Ads

I don’t know about you, but here, in Canada, I have noticed a very big increase in ads for online poker. Most of them are for site that don’t support gambling, but they are a few that do, one even stating that they have given over a billion $ in winnings. And btw, most of these ads run on the american stations. If online gambling is illegal in the states, how can there be so many ads for online poker?

Just my $0.02

HckyFght (user link) says:

Homeland Security?

What isn’t being discussed here is the possible abuse of new Homeland Security laws that cover the transfers of monies between countries. The Nixon Administration hid behind “National” Security to use laws meant to protect Americans to simply go after its opponents. Now, these same dangerous idiots (Rumsfeld, Cheney, et al, were once Nixon proteges)are hiding behind “Homeland” Security to enact their backwoods, provincial, religeous agenda…oh…and go after their opponents. They’ve gotta go.

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