Another Harvard Blog » Online Poker Law

Poland taking actions against Online Gambling

Don — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:30:14 +0000

We saw many countries banning online gambling. These countries mainly include U.S and Russia. However, more and more countries are nor either banning the online gambling or limiting to a certain limit. This was shocking news for the citizen of Poland when they heard that actions were being taken by Polish Government against online gambling. Poland is now also one of those countries like Russia and U.s who took strict actions to limit the online gambling.

We can’t really say that the decision made by the Polish government was wrong because it is really difficult for any country to keep a full check on online gambling websites which results in the fraud and money laundering. There is no doubt that online gambling is a big source of income for many players as well as the government of that country however, where there are so many benefits, on the same hand many players are affected through money laundering in online gambling every year.

Poland Government actually didn’t only ban the online gaming but it also implemented some rules and regulations on casino gaming. Polish Government declared slots and other forms of live gaming as illegal. Obviously many Polish people are protesting against the ban but if we see on the bright side then everything is going in the favor of citizens of Poland. Every country wants to implement a fair system and that is why online gambling is suffering a lot.

It is said that around 50,000 slot machines will be taken out of bars and malls of Poland and will be confiscated by the Government. No country ever took that much serious actions against gambling and we also never saw Poland taking such a big step. Obviously many online gambling companies will get affected as they are being banned in the major countries of the world where online gambling is famous however, there is nothing that can be done against it. Discussions are still going on that whether Poland will remove some of its strict laws in the near future or it will continue on the same pace for at least a year.

Online Gambling is now Legal in Quebec

Don — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:38:34 +0000

As we already know that online gambling is legal in British Columbia and few provinces of Canada. The good news is that Quebec is now also going to legalize online gambling. Obviously this will be a great help for many people both looking for fun and money. As we know that there are many people living in Quebec so surely online gambling will also bring good amount of money for Canada.

It is expected that the law to legalize gambling in Quebec will be implemented at the beginning of next summer. There is obviously approximately few months left before the people can enjoy the real fun. Obviously there are still some restrictions on gambling but it is expected that the laws will be amended as the request is already with Quebec Government.

Many countries which legalized online gambling faced many problems because it is really difficult to monitor online gambling. However, Quebec is taking too many security measures and hopefully there won’t be any kind of problem. We already know that Internet gambling is the main source of income for many countries so it will support Canada too much.

Internet gambling is the fastest growing industry in the whole world and it has multiplied more than 3 times in just3-4 years. Quebec is trying to implement the law before summer if it is able to clear everything. Quebec is still busy in taking appropriate security measures which will surely help it in controlling the frauds and scams over the Internet. The biggest reason why most of the countries like US banned online gambling was the same as listed above, there were too many frauds, money laundering and scams. Companies started using bots which made the game impossible for the humans. With the security measures being taken by Quebec, it is expected that other countries will also follow the same guidelines and will finally open up the Internet gambling. Canada is doing many things these days in the gambling world but their this act was surely a big surprise for the Quebec people and they can finally play while sitting in their homes.

Breach of The Identity and Privacy of Poker Players

Don — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:30:14 +0000

Every casino whether it is online or in a city, contains the database of its players which mainly includes the balance of the players, their names, their withdraw amount in a particular time, telephone number and the address of that player. Obviously this information must be kept confidential by all poker websites. Few days ago the information of thousands of players was leaked publicly. There are many suspects but no one can yet tell who really did this. The two websites from which all the poker players information was breached were 888 and Full Tilt Poker which are considered the top 2 websites in the poker world. Both the websites are not accepting that there was really a breach but every action will be taken according to law and the company’s compliance with proper rules and regulations. One thing which we can see from this whole case is that the information was obtained by AustralianGambling.com.au from Ryan Clegg who sells the data of thousands of poker players to different companies for just few thousands dollars. It is said that he once sold 40,000 people database to a company for $8,000. It is said that there are many sellers who gather private information about poker players and sell the information to the highest bidder. Clegg explained everything to the court and he also mentioned the name of some websites to whom he sold the private data of poker players. You can also read the whole Clegg’s sales pitch email giving out the selling price of the information database of players over the Internet. The case is still going on but no one is able to hear any solid comments from those two major websites. Obviously this matter cannot be ignored and the websites have to give some explanation that how the breach happened and were the sites really involved in it? Although none of the information of the players contained the bank information or any kind of credit card information but there is a huge possibility that if no action is taken against this breach then it might get worse in the future.

Australian Productivity Commission is in favor of Online Gambling

Don — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:26:17 +0000

Today On Oct 23, Australian Productivity Commission issued a draft report in which it supported the online gambling. More than 260 organizations including the iBus sent the request to the Productivity Commission to legalize online gambling and they were very happy after seeing the wonderful results in the form of draft. However, there is still a small problem. All the actions taken by the Productivity Commission of Australia are very seriously taken by the Australian Government in most of the cases.

Although it is expected that this would be the final decision and Australian Government will also approve it. The Pokernews Chief Consultant said that he was very delighted to see the draft recommendation of PC. He also said that he agreed with the PC draft that the risks involved in online gambling are way less than everyone thinks and the managed liberalisation will play a great role in controlling the risks. The draft has been passed to the Australian Government for approval and it is expected that soon the draft will get approved however, no one knows the exact date of the approval.

The whole PC draft is available at the official PC Australia website. Almost all the poker organisations agreed with most of the points of the draft. PC didn’t take much time to approve the requests of the organizations and liberalized the online gambling. In recent days both France and Austria legalized the online gambling which is surely a fortune for the big online poker site owners. Obviously they are now going to get good business from Australia too. It is said that US will also be legalizing the online gambling next year because every country is reversing the ban.

The points written by PC in the Draft were a little bit strict but they were worth to be accepted by the poker organizations as every organization wanted the unbanning of online gambling so they had to accept the points. Everyone is now waiting for the action and response from the Australian Government which will be obviously the final decision and no one will be able to protest against it.

Protests against online gambling ban

Don — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:12:44 +0000

Online Gambling sites, just like city Casinos are the places where players can come, join and earn some cash. Recently, there were some discussions going on within the Government regarding Online Gambling Ban. However, after seeing no hope of the lifting up of the ban people are now starting their protests in different forms. Many writers and editors of the newspapers have given their different views on this matter. Media is also giving this event a full coverage with different talk shows on this matter.
But the biggest protest we can see till now is a very good column written by one of the editors of LA Times. This article explains everything in itself. Hitzik, the editor who wrote this fact gave very solid arguments. He covered both the Chaos and Double Standards in his article. The most solid point which Hitzik mentioned was that there are many online games which do not involve skill but still they are not banned. Poker, no doubt is a game of skills but being part of the gambling games it was banned for no solid reason.
Hitzik said that it is impossible to stop the players from playing online poker. The only difference which we can see now is that the game is no more legally acceptable but people will go the illegal way as they will be left with no choice. He also stated that the banning of online gambling is not only going to affect the owners and the players but state is also going to lose billions of dollars as tax revenue. Another solid point which must be considered is that why the gambling was banned only online? the city casinos are still enjoying the huge amount of money.

Many other newspapers are printing the same article written by Hitzik. This article obviously reveals everything so it must get the media coverage. Obviously, there are going to be many interviews from which Hitzik have to pass. You can read the full article on the LA Times website or just open any other news website to get the full details. This article surely deserves a full read.

US making a slow progress to legalize Online Gambling

Don — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:45:59 +0000

This was surely shocking news for everyone when unofficial news arrived that the online gambling in US will not be legalized for at least one more year. The poker players are not going to get their licenses. The Poker Players Alliance and Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association have made a big progress with the Congress to spread their message. Joe Brennan, who is the chairman of IMEGA said that ” I will be surprised if the iGaming in US is not available universally in next 5-10 years”. He also said that it will take some time for Internet gambling to get legalized in US as Government is taking its full time to take the decision.
It is said that the Internet gambling might have been legalized in US if there was no such big recession nationwide which obviously damaged the economy. As we know that 2010 is the election year so there is a big possibility that online poker will be legalized by the end of this year. As we all know that it is a legal matter and Government is involved in it so there is a very less effect of the protest of people.
PPA is also taking many actions. Congress is taking too much time in taking the decision. However, there is big possibility that state will take this matter more seriously and might legalize iGaming next year. This act of the state might also influence the Congress. Many newspapers and press releases are covering this news. Obviously this is not at all a small matter for US and the Government must take some serious action and give its final decision. Most of the online poker sites have decided to shift their servers from the US to some other country so they can survive till the US legalizes online poker. Hopefully, next year will be a very happy year for all online poker players because from the on going situation, we can easily judge that the unbanning of online gambling is not too far. You can read the full discussion of the court on this matter on any news site over the Internet.

France: A source of attraction for Poker Companies

Don — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:46:29 +0000

As we all know that few days ago France legalized online poker. US still holds the ban but after too much consideration, the ban was finally lifted in France. Recently, many changes have been seen in the Poker arena as most of the poker companies are willing to move their business to France. Many of the companies have already taken initial steps and are now ready to start their business.
There is no doubt that US is the biggest online poker player but France is also at a very good level and many big poker players can be found over French online poker sites. That is the reason that no poker company is hesitating to invest in their business in France. The French law is also allowing foreign companies to get their online French license. There are few companies who are now totally converting their offline poker business into online poker business. The tax for French poker sites is also very reasonable and a lot less than the US. For example the tax rate in Gibraltar is only 1.5%.
As the ban just got lifted so there is very less competition between the online poker sites but soon as more and more companies will move to France, we will be able to see a saturation of sites looking for poker players.
It will be too early to say something about that why French lawmakers have given the permission to foreign countries to get established in France when there are already many poker companies in France. However, this is every fine step taken by the French law because it is surely going to increase the overall income of France. Poker no doubt is the most popular game and brings a huge income for almost every European and American country.
French law is giving out the licenses to every company who wants to establish itself in France and there are no special requirements to get it. There is a big possibility that other countries where online poker is banned might take some action about it and they also might lift up the ban. France is the first country to take such a big step and it is surely going a lot in its favor.

Europe is legalizing Online Poker

Don — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:40:46 +0000

It is not the whole Europe but the most important country which is a major player of online poker, France approves bill to make online poker legal. The bill which was approved not only approved online poker but all the gambling games were legalized. Although there were some restrictions in the bill like the company which wants to get the online gambling license must first close its business for at least 6 months and then they can apply for the license.

There was another very interesting restriction in the bill that only those gambling operators can have their license that do not have any subsidiaries or operations in tax havens. This is going to be a big restriction for online gambling site holders and many of them will not be able to apply for the license. The big sites like partypoker.com will also not be able to get their French online poker license but it won’t be a big problem for them because these websites are already getting good business from other big poker countries.

There are not going to be many websites which are going to get their online gambling license. The budget minister, Eric Woerth said that there are going to be around 50 websites in France which will receive their online poker license. This is a very small number of websites as compared to the online players in France however, some of the players have to go to the casinos and bars instead of playing online poker. The new bill which was passed also said that there will be only 2% tax on these online poker sites which is almost negligible for these kinds of websites but that 2% is really going to give the France Government a huge income.

The bill was a source of good news for very few people as not all the gambling sites are going to enjoy the benefit of having the license. Either these websites have to close down their servers and start some other business or they have to get the license of some other country and start their business in that country. Discussions are still going and it is said that the France government might increase the number of websites which are going to have the license because of the increasing number of France online poker players.

PPA delaying UIGEA

Don — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:31:31 +0000

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement act was going to be implemented on January 19, 2009. The poker player’s alliance is trying its hard to delay the implementation date of this act. The alliance of poker players is really working out and their tactics to make the act to the later date are working very well. The PPA interest group also sent the petition to U.S treasury secretary Timothy Geithner in which they have requested the extension of one year to the December deadline under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The PPA is not at all afraid and it has mentioned very strict points in the petition. For example they mentioned a warning in the petition that the enforcing statute will put unreasonable burden on regulators at the time of recession or economic crisis. The main point which the PPA tried to clarify in the warning is about the banks which will no more be allowed to transfer the money to online gambling websites and it can really hurt the economy.

Although we have seen very less incidents in which the bank accounts of the processing companies which used to transfer the money to online poker sites were ceased. It is a very crucial time for the U.S online poker players because either it is going to be a fortune for them or they are going to lose their business. Everyone is waiting for the reply of the U.S treasury secretary. It is said that he will soon reply to the petition but he has a total of 180 days before he must reply to the petition. Everyone is getting impatient about the reply because it is totally unexpected and no one can make any assumption about the secretary’s reply.

U.S is taking this act very seriously. The reason for the strict laws on online poker sites is that playing online poker is totally unsecure, full of bots, hacking, money laundering etc. You never know whether a real person is playing or it is just a computer bot. The city or town casinos are safe and there is simply no possibility of cheating. That is the main reason why most of countries are willing to completely ban the online poker sites.

“Full Tilt Poker Using Bots” A rumor or a truth?

Don — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:52:44 +0000

The popular online room is already facing its 3^rd lawsuit. Just like the other 2 lawsuits, the 3^rd law suit is also from an ordinary customer rather than someone who knows the working of the company. Full tilt poker was surely not able to satisfy its all customers and the two famous players Lary and Greg filed the complaint against full tilt poker.

The problem started in 2007 when the accounts of Kennedy and Omotoy were frozen by Full tilt Poker. Their total account balances were $80,000. The website said that both the players were using bots instead of playing by themselves which is surely against the term of service of the website. The news spread very slowly till Kennedy finally decided to go for the court. The court took serious actions and blamed Full Tilt poker for committing many other crimes. The suit was filed against many major managers and other workers of the Full Tilt Poker.

There were many other things included in the suit. The suit also accused Ferguson and Bloch of creating bots which were used to make the game slow and hence increasing the profits of the company. Although this is just one sided suit and everyone is waiting for the Full Tilt Poker reply in which they will try their best to prove themselves wrong that they are not using bots. However, everything is still undecided and the unhappy customers are waiting for the Full Tilt Poker’s response. It is very much possible that Full Tilt Poker might admit its mistake of freezing the accounts and pay some of the fine and continue its business.

The US law itself takes care of such big issues and they are never left undecided. No one knows that how many more suits will be signed against Full Tilt Poker if they are unable to correct their mistakes. Kennedy is still showing her aggression against Full Tilt poker and has posted its Full Tilt story on here pokergirl website which is a must read. Kennedy also said that Full Tilt has made more than hundred illegal gambling transactions. The illegal gambling transaction is considered a very serious law issue.