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New Law Cripples Internet Gambling
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The new law is shaking up the worldwide Internet gambling industry, with some comparing it to Congress banning the sale of Toyotas, BMWs and all other foreign vehicles here. Britain's Sportingbet PLC, for example, said 62 percent of winning bets on its site came from the United States.
A major offshore e-currency company, FirePay of Britain, said it no longer will accept payments from U.S. customers. Sportingbet sold its U.S. online operations to an Antiguan company yesterday for $1, five weeks after former company chairman Peter Dicks was arrested in New York when customs officials found he was wanted in Louisiana on charges of illegal online gambling. New York Gov. George E. Pataki (R) refused to extradite Dicks to Louisiana, and a federal judge cleared his return to England.
Former BetOnSports PLC chief executive David Carruthers was arrested in the Dallas airport in July. BetOnSports founder Gary Stephen Kaplan, also wanted by U.S. authorities, is a fugitive. BetOnSports said yesterday it would pull out of the United States and repay balances to customers here.
Most online wagering and e-currency Web sites posted releases yesterday commenting on the law and its impact on customers.
"After taking extensive legal advice, the board of PartyGaming PLC has concluded that the new legislation . . . will make it practically impossible to provide U.S. residents with access to its real money poker and other real money gaming sites," the company said.
The World Trade Organization even has a stake in the game. The organization has ruled that the United States violates trade treaties by outlawing offshore online gambling while tolerating some forms of U.S.-based online gambling, citing the horse-racing ambiguity.
