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Excellent thread folks. Hats off to all that posted.
wish I could add to it. I especially agree with the paypal decision being paramount in the matter.
nobody else wants to throw good money after bad, so to speak.
but that’s what it is going to take.
I think perhaps what is needed is a site or network dedicated to public opinion and as Randy stated, getting the masses to organize into a group big enough it must be reckognized.
I hate to say it fearing more people will not participate, but I agree profreedom isn’t cutting the mustard. And I must admit I don’t at this time because I can’t afford to send my traffic to another site fearing they won’t find their way back.
Not too mention the fact that the creators of profreedom can claim all they want that their ONLY out to help our cause, but somebody is collecting a whole hell of a lot of email addresses for nothing if you ask me.
I don’t have an answer to that one. and in the past before elections I have run the profreedom banners/popups. I knew what I was giving up but felt that it was a necessary …. unwise move because the other choice was complete loss.
US citizens do really need to organized because they are stealing our freedom from us more and more and it isn’t just online gambling issues.
I’m so sick to my stomach about the whole Bush thing I can hardly discuss it rationally.
I think i still have the domain protectonlinegambling.com . If anyone wants to take it and do anything with it, such as a discussion board, feel free. Maybe something for industry side and players alike.
Maybe if we got enough discussion going about it, some ideas would come up and we could prompt some action.
I’d be happy to do what I can. I could put it up on a dedicated server I have in the states, until they shut it down…lolLet me try to make this point one more time:
The ONLY reason that law has not passed in the last couple of years is lobbying.
The DOJ is trying to bluster and intimidate people, successfully so, but the law is not there to back it up.
Lobbying has been very heavy for this cause, and profreedom aids in those efforts.
I DOES make a difference, and I am not just voicing an opinion here, I DO know what I am talking about.
Whether or not profreedom makes much of a difference, and whether or not a law is passed, with the pressure that’s been applied they’ve succeeded in:
1. Preventing people from using paypal and most credit cards to gamble.
2. Prevented us from doing any offline advertising and now the 2 major online advertising sources.
So what are the next two steps?
1. Threaten webmasters who dont have 100 million dollars to back them up in court fees unlike Overture and Google. The government can make your life hell. Hell they can easily claim that you owe them an extra 300k in back taxes. I’ve had that happen to me here and there’s nothing that i can do about it. To contest it would take years of court time and would bankrupt me anyway.
2. They can request that overture and google removesany gambling related website from thier index.
Now from what i can tell the last two are a lot easier for them to do. Google and overture (inktom) would have no qualms about removing certain websites from the index. If they removed the advertising which was making money why would they even question this request?
You have to remember that the government is above the law.
Antoine
I agree that it does help and it gets the regulation chatter going. I know RTG has an active lobbyist who helped craft the Conyers regulation effort.
Do you think if we got louder about this, the DOJ would come after us faster, or would they be afraid to draw attention to a flawed and unconstitutional policy of coercion?Do you think if we got louder about this, the DOJ would come after us faster, or would they be afraid to draw attention to a flawed and unconstitutional policy of coercion?
This is actually starting to shape up as a case for the ACLU.
I do think that if affiliates on the web would get loud and complain they would try to shut us up.
We need to support lobbying efforts as best we can, and the only avenue we have to do so at this time is to support profreedom.
What we are seeing right now is actually a lashing out – a reaction to recent developments that are actually in our favor.
The decision of the world court is very important indeed – while we have not had to obey them yet, we have insisted others do so in the past. It would be bad to ignore such a ruling.
Because of that and also complaints from our closest ally, Britain, more politicians have opened conversation about regulation with their British counter parts. There is more and more talk about regulation on the hill.
The law is very unlikely to pass this year. So the DOJ has taken matters in it’s own hands – and will do so until regulation occurs.
This is more the attack of a cornered cat than anything else.
What we and everyone need to support vocally is regulation. That is the savior for us. And I do think it will happen – but I also think things may get worse before they get better.
This will be a very interesting year.
Has anyone contacted the ACLU regarding this yet?
If not, I’d be happy to touch base with them regarding this.
That sounds good, Ryan.
It is a matter of free speech. Lawrence Walters bases most of his opinions on this, and the other industry lawyers agree.
I apologize for calling you Ryan, Randy.
Another day of doing my taxes and my mind will have completely shrivelled.
No worries, Dom–I’ll let you know what I find out.
Because of that and also complaints from our closest ally, Britain, more politicians have opened conversation about regulation with their British counter parts. There is more and more talk about regulation on the hill.
Do you know this for a fact, Dominique ? The new gambling bill is going to be going through Parliament any time now which, if unamended, will open up the UK as a viable place for online casino operators to base themselves. Online gambling is, of course, legal in the UK – no problems with credit cards here, thank God. I also don’t think it’s any coincidence that many of our territories and former colonies (Isle of Man, Gibraltar, bits of the Caribbean etc.) actively solicit internet gaming companies.
If what you say is right, do you think it’s possible that the US government will look at what happens over here (the UK) in the next couple of years and decide to come to their senses. Or am I being a trifle naive ?
Quote:If what you say is right, do you think it’s possible that the US government will look at what happens over here (the UK) in the next couple of years and decide to come to their senses. Or am I being a trifle naive ?Won’t happen. The US government will not come to its senses like that. It is going to require a complete rethink and change of attitude in Congress before any sort of regulation is concerned – and the UK position will only be considered after the fact, so to speak.
quote:
If what you say is right, do you think it’s possible that the US government will look at what happens over here (the UK) in the next couple of years and decide to come to their senses. Or am I being a trifle naive ?
Won’t happen. The US government will not come to its senses like that. It is going to require a complete rethink and change of attitude in Congress before any sort of regulation is concerned – and the UK position will only be considered after the fact, so to speak.
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I do know for a fact that there is dialogue going on.
It is going to require a complete rethink, and there are people interested in rethinking now.
Do not forget that the US is losing mega revenue because of this.
It will not happen tomorrow, but some have started laying some groundwork for it, and my bets are that within a couple of years regulation will be on the table. If not sooner.
I think I agree with Spear. The US is a very strange place that puts more value on appearance (values) than substance. We usually have to learn the hard way, i.e. Prohibition, Vietnam, Iraq, drug wars, etc…
For Christ sake, there is talk about making same-sex marriage illegal according to the constitution. Prohibition was the last ammendment we created based on religion and values and we all know how that turned out.
The US is a great place, but it’s controlled too much by a small group of loud moral crusaders.To add to what Jeff posted, you can bet your bottom dollar that the stubborn, arrogant hoity-toity people in government will not follow the lead of their former “masters” no matter how long ago that was and no matter how friendly the relationship currently is.
It’s one thing for the UK to follow the lead of the US. It’s another thing entirely for the US to follow ANYONE’s lead.
