Via Always Bluff, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety wants to block access to online poker sites by spreading the falsehood that online gambling is illegal in the United States (it’s not). They contacted the various internet services providers around the state to comply with their request or else their ‘cash flow’ will be negatively impacted. One wonders whether this is an idle threat.
They’re the first state in the nation to full out request such a thing:
Believed the first attempt by a state to employ this federal statute to restrict access to online gambling sites, the letters cites U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 1084, (d); notices were delivered Mon., April 27. Congress enacted the statute in 1961 in recognition of the need for states to control illegal gambling activities and granted authority for use of the statue to state law enforcement agencies.
The juiciest, and scariest, bit of news out of a recent press release involves the explanation of their reasoning:
“In Minnesota, and for Minnesotans, the primary issues are legality, state self-governance and accountability,” says Willems. “In broader context, the long-running debate on online gambling continues to raise significant issues, including absence of policy and regulation, individual rights, societal impact, international fair-trade practices, and funding for criminal and terrorist organizations.”
So, yeah. Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker, and other ‘gambling sites’ are included on their list of sites they wish to be blocked. Which urban warrior decided to get a bug up their butt about online gambling and what people do with THEIR money?
I find it interesting that so many legislators are against gambling when almost every state in the nation spends money to advertise the lottery. Isn’t the lottery a pretty big gamble?
What about starting a business? That’s usually a pretty big gamble too. Some people spend their entire life savings or take out loans to support this gamble of starting a business. WTF?
Simple, Eric- when you’re getting 45%+ of the gross revenues, you’re not gambling, are you?
As soon as there are legalized, regulated sites, MN will do an about-face.