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Does anyone have an opinion on Geo-targeting users to operators ???
I am contemplating to continue running and hosting my site in US, and keeping my links up, but wrapping all links in a CGI program (for example), such that when a user clicks on a vendor link, it determines the country origin of the IP address. Next, I send them to the Gambling operator if they are outside of the U.S., but put up a page that says something to the effect that US-based players aren’t allowed to transfer money to these sites, so I can’t send you to the vendor, if the IP address is within the U.S.
Does anyone have any legal opinions on the above ? I’ve talked to a couple of attorneys locally, who claim to be gaming experts, and I wouldn’t trust these guys’ opinions, as far as I could throw them. It’s amazing how every attornye has become a gaming-law attorney in the last month.
Any opinions would be most appreciated, particularly those who have consulted with competent counsel on this matter.
If I was surfing through your site and decided to click out, only to have the page blocked, I would immediately close your site and never return.
I might also send you an email to thank you for taking away my right to read and learn freely on the internet.
Presumably you would use geotargeting because you assume that, by sending me to an online casino website, I am going to break a law. It isn’t your job to make that decision. Don’t assume. Enforcing the law is up to my bank, and it is up to the online casino. There is no need for you to get involved in that at all.
As an American, I do not appreciate having material censored — especially since it is not illegal to simply READ the content on an online casino landing page. By censoring content like this, you are no better than the Republican assholes who would love nothing more than to eliminate the right to free speech and free expression in the USA — aka The First Amendment.
There is a reason the First Amendment is the FIRST Amendment. Freedom of speech was the most important issue when the founding fathers wrote the Bill of Rights, and it remains the most important issue today. If we lose the right to express ourselves freely; if we lose the right to read what we want; if we start banning books from libraries (or if we start banning pages from the internet), then we are no better than China or Cuba.
Geotargeting has advantages, but it should absolutely not be used to censor anything.
Regarding lawyers — I believe many people have received extremely bad advice in recent weeks. Most lawyers will take the path of least resistance by telling you to “play it safe.” They’d rather hand out conservative (but bad) advice, collect their fee, and send you on your way, hoping never to hear from you again. Most lawyers won’t care that your point of view might actually prevail in a court of law. He doesn’t care that you might go out and close down your profitable business because of his advice. Nope. Most lawyers are bloodsuckers, and many of them care only about how to make the most amount of money with the least path of resistance.
Engineer, I respect your opinions and feel like you do, but I’m really looking to avoid a lawsuit, heavy fines, jailtime (doubtful), and the banning of my domains. I am taking an extremely cautious approach right now, which suits my personality. I agree with very little that this administration has done, but breaking the law (whether I agree with the law or not), is still breaking the law. I’m looking to circumvent the law, via legal loopholes, to the best of my ability, but in a low-risk capacity. Hence, my question on geo-targeting.
What I have found and plan on doing is the following:
– I find the legalese in the law a bit incomprehensible. I cannot really
decipher it well enough to make judgements about what is legal and what
is not. Reading this law re-enforces the decision that I made 26 years
ago, not to go to law school.– I have sought local legal counsel, and have spoken with 4 local attorneys,
who claim to be “gaming-law” experts. Although I haven’t spent
considerable $$$ on these guys, my determination is that none of these
guys knows jack-shit about gaming law, and I wouldn’t trust their opinion if
my life depended on it. One guy, to rename nameless, suggested to me to
“hide my website, so that the authorities couldn’t find me.” I played dumb
(easy for me to do), and asked him how he would propose that I do that,
and he said I should hire a computer whiz from the local high school – he
would be able to figure it out. At that point, I told him that I thought I
left my car running, and I made a bee-line for the exits. What a dumbass !
I just got a bill from him in the mail to boot. I am going to send him a
“hidden” check.– I’m leary about paying big bucks for a big name guy, because quite
truthfully, I’m afraid that they will tell me what I want to hear, and be
setting me up for bigger ticket things, like representing me in a test court
case. I cannot afford, nor do I want to go down that path.– I will be looking, listening, and watching. I will look to see if the DOJ
goes after YOU, and see what the repurcussions are. I hope this doesn’t
sound rash and unfeeling, but I plan on learning from other people’s
mistakes, in this rough time.– The viability to make the money we have been making in this business
has diminished, and will certainly diminish more as time goes on, so I
agree with Captain in his assessment – at what point does the penalty
outweigh the risk of gain ? That is the point of bailing out altogether.
I have currently disabled my links, but have kept my sites up, until I
fully understand if I should pursue a different course or not.So, with all that said, I was wondering how you guys felt about geo-targeting, while being hosted in the U.S. ? Just looking for opinions, and perhaps to leverage off of some “meaningful” legal advice, that some of you may have received.
Thanks in advance.
P.S. I know Simmo! offered a geo-targeting script, which is quite generous, but if anyone wants my opinion on how to set this up, please yell and I’ll be happy to discuss as well.
P.P.S. If you want an up-to-date Ip-To-Country database (updated
every 24 hours), go to:http://software77.net/cgi-bin/ip-country/geo-ip.pl
and click on the Download – ZIP file link on that page.
dhayman wrote:One guy, to rename nameless, suggested to me to
“hide my website, so that the authorities couldn’t find me.” I played dumb
(easy for me to do), and asked him how he would propose that I do that,
and he said I should hire a computer whiz from the local high school – he
would be able to figure it out. At that point, I told him that I thought I
left my car running, and I made a bee-line for the exits. What a dumbass !
I just got a bill from him in the mail to boot. I am going to send him a
“hidden” check.Too funny! :happy:
