Bill Condie, Evening Standard
27 September 2006
Online gaming outfit Sportingbet has gone on the offensive against the American authorities ahead of a crucial hearing for Peter Dicks, its former chairman.
<!-- IMAGE CONTROL - DO NOT REMOVE - START IMGCAP --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>
<!-- IMAGE CONTROL - DO NOT REMOVE - END IMGCAP -->
- Dicks is returning to the US tomorrow to fight moves to put him on trial in Lousiana on charges of breaking state laws against internet gambling. Executive director Nigel Payne has attacked American attempts to outlaw his industry, saying they are driven by commercial interests and not social welfare concerns.
Writing in the New York Times today, Payne - whose company owns ParadisePoker and sportsbook.com - says: 'I believe that the real picture that emerges is one of fiscal protectionism that is being masked by political manoeuvring and adroit public relations.'
Payne, who is thought to be one of four Sportingbet executives wanted by Louisiana for allegedly breaking state gaming law, added: 'A good example is the often-quoted issue of underage gambling. We are told that the industry is a social pariah, a danger to children.
'Although internet gambling may provide the ability for minors to participate in unsupervised gambling, the truth is that the industry has long been able to demonstrate that it has the technology to mitigate such risks.'
A Bill banning internet gambling is stalled in the US Senate. Influential senators have confirmed they have blocked a bid to sneak an internet gambling ban through Congress. But their move comes as Louisiana state authorities warn that they would pursue cases such as that of Dicks and had other executives in their sights.
Dicks was arrested in New York on a Louisiana warrant and is due in court tomorrow to hear if he will be extradited to the southern state. Joe Lentini, head of the casino section of Louisiana's Police Gaming Enforcement division, was quoted as saying he had three other warrants for Sportingbet executives and that he was also investigating other companies.
'We have agents all over the state working on this daily. There are other sites we're looking into,' Lentini said. Louisiana law expressly makes internet gambling illegal but federal law, which relies on the Wire Act from the 1960s, is less clear-cut.
Legislation that would make it illegal to take credit-card payments for online bets has passed the House of Representatives but looks unlikely to clear the Senate in the current session.
Republican Bill Frist had attempted to attach the provision to another Bill providing essential support for US military operations overseas. But that bid was blocked by powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.
Ritz Online shuts its doors to new members
The billionaire Barclay brothers, owners of the Daily Telegraph and the Littlewoods home shopping business, have unexpectedly closed their Ritz Club Online gambling website to new members because of legal threats.
A statement on the website says: 'In the light of the current confusion-and inconsistency in online gambling legislation worldwide, the owners of the Ritz Club London Online have, regretfully, decided to close the site to new customers with immediate effect.'
The front page of the website also gives telephone numbers for both UK and international gamblers to contact-the group's customer support service. The website and the Edwardian club in Piccadilly are both subsidiaries of the Ritz Hotel, which is owned by Sir Frederick and Sir David Barclay. They bought it for £75m in 1995 and launched the online gambling site in 2002
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing-and-markets/article.html?in_article_id=413086&in_page_id=3
