I -bet- this winds up going nowhere
U.S. chasing off-shore gambling sites
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JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Others may have covered this topic a bit and if so I apologize, but hopefully I can bring my own perspective to the issues involved.
If you've been living under a rock or haven't been following the news cycles then perhaps you are not aware that the U.S. is working on a case against several off-shore gambling sites, the biggest (name wise) being BetOnSports -- a .com site run out of (I think) Costa Rica.
The U.S. of course has strict gambling laws, and only a few areas allow betting on sporting events -- most notably Las Vegas, where you can bet on just about anything, and Off Track Betting locations and horse/dog racing tracks where you can bet on thosee events. Otherwise though, betting and gambling in general (except for state lotteries) is illegal and frowned upon mightily by the U.S. government and most state governments in the U.S.A.
That being the case, it's really no surprise that the U.S. government wants to go after the BetOnSports people. After all, they have advertised heavily on Sports Talk radio stations, on XM and Sirius airwaves and other similar outlets. If they weren't trying to lure in U.S. business, then why bother advertising in the U.S. at all?
The big problem is though, just what right does the U.S. have to shutdown a business that is based in a foreign country and is operating legally in that country? Even if the business may accept customers from areas where the activities are illegal, does the U.S.A. have a legimate duty and responsibility to prevent such businesses from operating normally?
At this time, at least according to news here: Officials charge 11 from offshore gambling site, BetOnSports CEO and four other defendants arrested over weekend, the CEO of the company is being "detained" in the U.S.A. and charged with several crimes including:
... they (the 11 people charged) committed conspiracy, racketeering and fraud in taking sports bets from U.S. residents.
Personally, I find the U.S. stance highly hypocritical for many reasons. One, consider the state lotteries I mentioned above. Consider the casino gambling in many areas. Consider the legal betting in Las Vegas.
Two, consider on of the biggest gambling outlets in the country and the world - the stock market or perhaps the real estate businesses. Many would argue that the markets are nothing more than gambling, especially for those that really don't have direct knowledge of the companies and funds that they are invested in, or of the properties they may invest in.
Finally, consider the difficulty in trying to shutdown activities that are to many second nature. The idea of striking it rich by using knowledge of sporting events, teams, players and participants is alluring. People always think they know how games will turn out based on past performance and occurences, etc.
My own thoughts are that the U.S. governments efforts in this area are something that will do nothing more than enrich a small army of lawyers. Eventually the cases will be dropped completely, even if the government is somehow able to win a few early victories. Again, how can the U.S.A. dictate to foreign countries how their businesses operate and which customers those businesses are entitled to do business with?
Eventually a Judge will ask some of the same common sense questions I'm asking here, and when that happens, the cases will be tossed. At that point, the businesses and personnel involved will wind up filing their own lawsuits against the feds for interference in their business, lost profits and opportunities and more. They'll perhaps greatly enrich themselves and their army of lawyers on the federal dime, and we'll (as a country) get nothing for it all.
How should we really resolve the problem? Perhaps in the same way that many wish we'd solve the drug war -- legalize gambling and regulate it like we have Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Perhaps states should get into the sports betting businesses, even if their partner/friends in the NFL, MLB and NBA don't like it. At least if there is a country full of legal betting options then things can be more easily controlled and regulated, and further the government can take a fully legal cut of the money that changes hands along the way. Winnings would be taxed like casino winnings are in Vegas, Atlantic City and other such locations, and the government could fatten it's coffers along the way.
They could also, of course, use the funds from the "sin taxes" to help educate people away from the evils of gambling, drinking, doing drugs and more. They could do as states have done and put the money towards education in general and help build more and better schools and such.
It's what they could do, and I believe what they should do, but is it what they will eventually do? Only time will tell for sure....
Have your own opinion? Bring it on!
If you've been living under a rock or haven't been following the news cycles then perhaps you are not aware that the U.S. is working on a case against several off-shore gambling sites, the biggest (name wise) being BetOnSports -- a .com site run out of (I think) Costa Rica.
The U.S. of course has strict gambling laws, and only a few areas allow betting on sporting events -- most notably Las Vegas, where you can bet on just about anything, and Off Track Betting locations and horse/dog racing tracks where you can bet on thosee events. Otherwise though, betting and gambling in general (except for state lotteries) is illegal and frowned upon mightily by the U.S. government and most state governments in the U.S.A.
That being the case, it's really no surprise that the U.S. government wants to go after the BetOnSports people. After all, they have advertised heavily on Sports Talk radio stations, on XM and Sirius airwaves and other similar outlets. If they weren't trying to lure in U.S. business, then why bother advertising in the U.S. at all?
The big problem is though, just what right does the U.S. have to shutdown a business that is based in a foreign country and is operating legally in that country? Even if the business may accept customers from areas where the activities are illegal, does the U.S.A. have a legimate duty and responsibility to prevent such businesses from operating normally?
At this time, at least according to news here: Officials charge 11 from offshore gambling site, BetOnSports CEO and four other defendants arrested over weekend, the CEO of the company is being "detained" in the U.S.A. and charged with several crimes including:
... they (the 11 people charged) committed conspiracy, racketeering and fraud in taking sports bets from U.S. residents.
Personally, I find the U.S. stance highly hypocritical for many reasons. One, consider the state lotteries I mentioned above. Consider the casino gambling in many areas. Consider the legal betting in Las Vegas.
Two, consider on of the biggest gambling outlets in the country and the world - the stock market or perhaps the real estate businesses. Many would argue that the markets are nothing more than gambling, especially for those that really don't have direct knowledge of the companies and funds that they are invested in, or of the properties they may invest in.
Finally, consider the difficulty in trying to shutdown activities that are to many second nature. The idea of striking it rich by using knowledge of sporting events, teams, players and participants is alluring. People always think they know how games will turn out based on past performance and occurences, etc.
My own thoughts are that the U.S. governments efforts in this area are something that will do nothing more than enrich a small army of lawyers. Eventually the cases will be dropped completely, even if the government is somehow able to win a few early victories. Again, how can the U.S.A. dictate to foreign countries how their businesses operate and which customers those businesses are entitled to do business with?
Eventually a Judge will ask some of the same common sense questions I'm asking here, and when that happens, the cases will be tossed. At that point, the businesses and personnel involved will wind up filing their own lawsuits against the feds for interference in their business, lost profits and opportunities and more. They'll perhaps greatly enrich themselves and their army of lawyers on the federal dime, and we'll (as a country) get nothing for it all.
How should we really resolve the problem? Perhaps in the same way that many wish we'd solve the drug war -- legalize gambling and regulate it like we have Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Perhaps states should get into the sports betting businesses, even if their partner/friends in the NFL, MLB and NBA don't like it. At least if there is a country full of legal betting options then things can be more easily controlled and regulated, and further the government can take a fully legal cut of the money that changes hands along the way. Winnings would be taxed like casino winnings are in Vegas, Atlantic City and other such locations, and the government could fatten it's coffers along the way.They could also, of course, use the funds from the "sin taxes" to help educate people away from the evils of gambling, drinking, doing drugs and more. They could do as states have done and put the money towards education in general and help build more and better schools and such.
It's what they could do, and I believe what they should do, but is it what they will eventually do? Only time will tell for sure....
Have your own opinion? Bring it on!
