Will Canadian Players Be Affected ?

Can a Mod please tell me the status of Easybet.com? They say that they only deal with Canadian players and will not be affected by the new Safe Ports Act....

The recent bill signed by George Bush and the private member's bill issued by Jeff Leal in Ontario, Canada, are designed to curtail online betting. In both cases, the governments want you to feel that they are somehow making a dent in the area of problem gambling, particularly among young people by stomping out sports and poker betting online. At the same time, the U.S. government has created an exemption for horse racing and lotteries and in Canada, Jeff Leal himself stated that the main concern with online gambling is that it is taking away revenue from the lotteries, race tracks and the video lottery terminals located at the racetrack.

So the question has to be asked as to whether the U.S. and Ontario provincial governments are on the right track by trying to stop online gambling if their stated goal is to stomp out problem gambling and gambling by minors. Given the above facts, the answer would seem to be "no". But the best source to answer of course is Gambler's Anonymous which helps those who are pathological gamblers. According to studies done by problem gambling groups, 2/3 of people in their programs are there as a result of video lottery terminals. And 1/3 of the people at the problem gambling programs play the lottery on a regular basis. Contrarily, less than 5% of the problem gamblers are there due to horse racing or sports betting. In fact video lottery terminals have been deemed "the crack cocaine of gambling" because it is so highly addictive. Most vlt players become addicted to gambling in less than a year. Contrarily sports bettors and poker players take over 4 years of playing before they start becoming problem gamblers.

Big Al.

Welcome to The Rx. I hope you enjoy the site.

I have sent a link to this thread to Rx. moderator and Canadien citzen Sportsavant. He will be online later this morning and most likely will be able to answer your questions. Rx. moderator Xpanda may be able to help also.




Bset of luck, wilheim..

As im sure you know this is the proposed bill.

http://www.ontla.on.ca/documen...nt/session2/b060_e.htm
Bill 60 2006
An Act to amend the
Consumer Protection Act, 2002
to regulate the promotion
and advertising of Internet
gaming in Ontario

Note: This Act amends the Consumer Protection Act, 2002. For the legislative history of the Act, see Public Statutes - Detailed Legislative History on www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1. Section 1 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 is amended by adding the following definitions:

"Internet gaming business" means a business that offers to accept wagers or bets over the Internet on any game of chance or mixed skill and chance or on any contingency or event that is to take place inside or outside of Canada and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, includes a business that offers to accept wagers or bets over the Internet relating to a casino game, card game, horse race, fight, match or sport; ("entreprise de jeux sur Internet")

"Internet gaming business website address" means a Uniform Resource Locator ("URL") or other standardized address name layout that allows an Internet user to locate an Internet gaming business on the World Wide Web, and includes any company or trade name that would constitute a valid URL of an Internet gaming business with the addition of one or more standard URL components, such as a server prefix, a domain suffix or extension or a country code; ("adresse du site Web d'une entreprise de jeux sur Internet")

2. The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Restrictions on advertising of certain Internet websites

17.1 No person shall print, publish, distribute, broadcast or telecast an advertisement or representation that includes an Internet gaming business website address unless the person believes in good faith that the Internet gaming business has been licensed or otherwise granted permission to operate in Ontario or Canada by the appropriate authority and is operated in accordance with the applicable laws of Ontario and Canada.

3. Subclause 116 (1) (b) (ii) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(ii) in respect of Part III, Unfair Practices, subsection 17 (1) and section 17.1,

Commencement

4. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

5. The short title of this Act is the Consumer Protection Amendment Act (Internet Gaming Advertising), 2006.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The purpose of the Bill is to prohibit the advertising of website addresses of Internet gaming businesses unless the person doing the advertising believes in good faith that the Internet gaming business has been properly authorized to operate and is in fact being operated in accordance with Ontario and Canadian law.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Copyright © 2006
Journals and Procedural Research Branch
Office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Toronto, Ontario, Canada.


People in the last few years for some reason got this idea that online gambling was somehow ok but it isn't its one big grey area and isn't going to be socially acceptable anytime soon if ever. All this silly bill does is ban advertising of all .com or .net sites which pretty much means no poker shows on television. The provincial government can't make online gambling illegal it isn't within there power. All this would effect is someone being exposed to a gambling ad. It's really the status quo make your bets, don't tell every tom, dick and harry that you do and you'll be ok.

This bill only addresses advertising of internet gambling sites. It has nothing to do with gambling itself, makes no attempt to criminalise internet betting (from the bettor's point of view), nor does it in any way change the definition of 'illegal gambling' in Ontario. All this does is say that a business located in Ontario is not permitted to advertise non-Ontario licensed gambling operations.

As far as people like us are concerned, it's a non-issue.

However, it is likely in our best interest to vote McGuinty out of office. The guy has a nanny-complex like I've never seen.

Ontario is introducing a new bill tomorrow which takes alot of Leal's Bill 60 into effect. Difference is this one will be government backed so it will have a much better chance of passing.

Bob McCown on Fan590 did an hour and a half rant against this bill yesterday daring anybody from gov't to come on a defend it. When none did he called them typically spineless. It was a classic rant.

Province trying to close online gambling loophole
Oct. 18, 2006. 01:00 AM
IAN URQUHART

We've all seen the ads on television or heard them on the radio: A poker "star" boasts of his conquests and invites us to visit a website where we can gamble with play money.

"It's fun," says the poker star. "It's free."

But upon making the visit, we discover connections to the real thing: a website where we can lay down bets for hard cash, or credit.

It is through such manoeuvring that the website operators continue to find ways to attract new customers, notwithstanding the fact that gambling on the Internet, or advertising of same, is strictly illegal in Canada.

Accordingly, the provincial government plans to move to close the loopholes with a blanket ban on advertising of Internet gambling, direct or indirect.

The ban will be part of an omnibus consumer protection bill to be introduced tomorrow by Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips.

Phillips is essentially adopting, in government legislation, a private member's bill introduced earlier this year by Jeff Leal, Liberal MPP for Peterborough. Leal deserves credit for bringing attention to the issue.

There are good reasons for the government to take this step: Internet gambling is highly addictive because it can be played anonymously around the clock, and it is also accessible to underage players.

But, of course, the province has another reason to curb Internet gambling: It is cutting deeply into the government's share of the take from legal gambling at the casinos and race tracks.

It is hard to know exactly how much money is being drained away from legal gambling by the illegal sites on the Internet; estimates range up to $500 million a year in Ontario.

But this much is known: Revenues for the government-owned Ontario Lotteries and Gaming Corp. (operator of the province's casinos) were down $335 million over the past three years and is forecast to drop another $210 million this year.

Border-crossing problems, the high value of the Canadian dollar, and growing U.S. competition share the blame for this. But there is no doubt that Internet gambling is a factor in the steady decline.

Some argue that Canada should simply follow the lead of other jurisdictions (Britain, for example) and legalize Internet gambling, with governments either operating the sites directly or regulating and taxing them.

But there seems to be little appetite for this option among Canadian jurisdictions.

The Ontario government, for one, has categorically ruled out involvement in the Internet gambling business.

The next option, then, is to fight the scourge.

The problem is that, while illegal, Internet gambling is hard to police, as the sites are based either offshore (Antigua, for example) or, within Canada, at the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake, outside Montreal.

The United States Congress last month found a way to get at the offshore sites by passing a bill that makes it illegal for American banks to allow their credit cards to be used for online gambling.

Such action is beyond the jurisdiction of a province, however, as Ottawa is responsible for both the Criminal Code and banking. So Ontario is focusing on advertising curbs for now.

But Phillips has written a letter to federal Justice Minister Vic Toews to express his concerns about Internet gambling and appeal to Ottawa to join the fight.

The letter, dated Sept. 28, has a plaintive tone to it as Phillips struggles to capture Toews's attention.

"The government of Ontario considers illegal Internet gaming to be a serious issue," writes Phillips.

"It is clear, however, that illegal Internet gaming represents complex regulatory challenges requiring a co-ordinated effort by provinces and the federal government on several fronts ... I would ask for your support and continued engagement on this issue."

Toews has yet to respond to the letter.

Somewhat surprisingly — given that the federal Conservative government often takes its cues from Washington — a spokesperson for Toews explains that Internet gambling is not a "priority" for the justice minister.

So, the websites will continue to operate with impunity in Canada, but the advertising of them may soon be a little more difficult, at least in Ontario.

A footnote: Phillips's omnibus bill will also contain sections dealing with real estate fraud, outlawing termination dates on gift certificates, and modernizing the provincial archives.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...185&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795


***********************


This article is simply amazing. The author acknowledges that the principal reason the gov't seeks a ban on online gaming advertising is because it's cutting into the profits of the OLGC (though I'd argue their incredibly weak lines have much to do with their reported losses) and yet goes on to suggest that this must be done, and that online gaming is a scourge. I sense a letter to the editor coming on.

At any rate, the bill has little teeth to it, and only restricts advertising. It will mean that the Hamilton Tiger Cats will have to remove the Bowmans.com logo from the 50-yard-line, and that Ontario-based tv stations will have to stop all ads from Party Poker et al, but it doesn't - and can't - address the legality of internet betting itself as that is a federal issue.

And should our federal gov't try it, I welcome the WTO to our shores for a good beat down.

I wonder if the RCMP will be calling me soon...

The minister for the gov't was carved a new hole on live national radio and television in Canada. He was made to sound a fool. He said the law wouldn't effect .net. He was given 3 opportunities to recant his statement that .net advertising wouldn't be affected. He did not. If the case, they are making illegal something that nobody does anymore in Canada anyway, .com.

It was fun to listen to though. After all the bad news of recent months, this guy was shown to be the fool politician that he is. He was butchered.

X-Files said:

I wonder if the RCMP will be calling me soon...

Click to expand...

Sure they will, now that IAN URQUHART has pointed out that "gambling on the Internet...is strictly illegal in Canada."

Wonder if he'd care to cite that section of the Criminal Code.

THIS SITUATION IS GETTING OUT OF HAND:smoking: