Newsletter ArchiveSUBJECT:Online Gaming Welcome to The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter. This week in the ICB Toll Free News there was an article on a treaty called the “Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters”. This treaty could have a severe effect on how we can use the Internet to conduct our business in the United States. You will find the article at http://www.cptech.org/ecom/jurisdiction/whatyoushouldknow.html Online gaming was in the news this week and George Paul (george@inter800.com) was in my office sharing his point of view. When he was done, I asked if he would write it up for the newsletter. Please enjoy what I found to be an interesting assessment of the online gaming issue. On Monday, the Nevada state legislature passed a bill that will allow licensed operators to offer Internet gambling. The governor is expected to sign it. The bill will allow the Gaming Commission to create and administer licenses for both the operation of interactive gaming and the manufacturing of interactive gaming systems. Online gambling is huge and getting bigger every day. Unfortunately, bans on gambling in the US, while unenforceable against the players, have cut American companies out of the action. While this step is significant, don't expect to be gambling at the Flamingo Online any time soon. The Gaming Commission will still have to wait until the federal government makes up its mind about online gaming before it even begins to draft regulations. Meanwhile, Washington lawmakers opposed to online gambling are looking at ways to eliminate the industry altogether. Currently under consideration is a proposal to ban the use of credit cards for payment of such services. Supporters of the bill believe this would make it much harder to place bets, receive payouts, and most importantly, rack up debt. Personally, I'm confused about the whole gambling issue. I live in New Mexico where gambling is illegal. The exception is horse racing, which is an age-old tradition here. Also there are several casinos operating throughout the state on the various Indian reservations. Of course to help horse racing compete against Indian gaming, they had to be allowed to add slot machines. And naturally, there's always the state run lottery. So, I have 3 full-fledged casinos less than 20 minutes away, a racetrack featuring a casino right here in town on the State's land, and of course I can always dip into any convenience store if I'm feeling lucky and need an immediate fix. Other than that, gambling is illegal. I think you can understand my confusion. The bottom line is, Americans ARE gambling online along with the rest of the world. Unfortunately, of the $3 billion dollars the world will lose gambling online this year, American companies will receive none, and the federal and state governments will receive no tax revenue. This is a ridiculous situation and totally un-American-like. I think we should either decide that gambling is wrong and eliminate it, or recognize the hypocrisy of the current system and legalize it across the board. This condition of being a "little bit pregnant" is too confusing to explain to my son. If you have any thoughts on this subject or any ideas that could be helpful to the others in this group send them to me (Chuck Arning) at chuck@inter800.com If you have any thoughts on this subject or any ideas that could be helpful to the others in this group send them to me (Chuck Arning) at chuck@inter800.com All Contents Copyright ©1995-2001 The Internet 800 Directory Subscribe To The Newsletter: |