There is a lot of news out today about the new US legislation passed to help end Internet Gambling within the US border. According to stock market reports, the international gaming companies are losing money as their share prices drop after the announcement that the US House of Representatives and Senate approved a bill this past weekend to make it illegal for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites.
I’m sure that there will plenty of legal battles over this issue, as American gambling companies, including Native American Indian Reservation casinos, are fighting to keep gambling money in the US and not overseas. Online gambling is one of the most lucrative business on the Internet according to many sources.
The Federal Wire Wager Act (18 U.S.C. § 1084 (1994) banned US citizens from online gambling within the US border, but that didn’t stop the international gaming industry from luring Americans to their games overseas. Income from US citizens gambling online represents a huge portion of gaming income.
What does this have to do with blogs and blogging? Recently, I wrote “Illegal Internet Gambling and Gambling Comment Spam”, about how blogs are used to promote illegal gambling and casinos through comment spam and advertising. I also mentioned Fight Casino Spam, a grass roots effort to put an end to gambling and casino comment spam.
In that article, I asked if the bans on Internet gaming applied in any way to comment spam as advertising. So far, I haven’t found an answer to that question.
With the law to refuse payment of overseas online gambling debts by banks and credit cards, can money paid from clickthroughs of comment spams and gaming advertisements on blogs also be impacted? After all, if you consciously have ads on your blog promoting online gaming and gambling and your bank is in the United States, wouldn’t that money be refused credit?
Whether or not Americans gamble online or not is up to them and the country’s laws. Putting a stop to all comment spam, including casino and gambling spam, is a bigger priority to me. So if you get any income from gambling or gaming sources on your blog, you better check with your bank and lawyer to make sure the check or payment will still be good.
Since the 1994 law hasn’t stopped gamblers in the US from spending their gambling money overseas online, it will be interesting to see how this new law will hold up. Anyone for a gambling with an off-shore bank account? Better invest in that industry! I see it growing as Americans work around the law to satisfy their gambling habits.
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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network
Lorelle on WordPress 
3 Comments
I really, really hope it helps to slow down a little the spam.
Akismet is great, Bad Behaviour too but they don´t make miracles. At least not 100% of the time.
I really don´t mind if one or two poker spammers go belly-up.
When I gamble online I have started using Entropay, recommended by PartyPoker, it seems to be working fine. I found Netteller really slow in setting up my account.
If you are worried about a merchant, load an EntroPay VISA card with only the amount you want to spend – the merchant can never take more than that
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