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Written by Thomas Jensen
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Friday, 05 June 2009
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 Point-Spreads.com has learned that New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today announced he would seek to intervene in support of a federal lawsuit filed by state Sen. Raymond Lesniak in an effort to overturn a federal ban on sports betting in New Jersey and 45 other states. The potential implications of this move to the internet gambling sector are enormous not to mention the potential revenue stream to the state via the licensed land based casinos in Atlantic City.
“The federal government’s prohibition on sports betting for some but not all states is fundamentally unfair,” Governor Corzine said. “There should be uniformity in the application of federal law. If one state is allowed to legalize betting on sports events, all states should be allowed the same opportunity.”
Since 1992, federal law has outlawed wagering on sports except in four states, Nevada, Montana, Oregon and Delaware. Last month, Delaware took advantage of its exemption in the federal law to legalize sports betting and table games at its three horse racing facilities.
Legalized sports betting in Delaware is a cause for concern within the gaming industry in New Jersey because it puts Atlantic City at a competitive disadvantage. Some estimates say as much as $10 billion could be bet on sports annually in New Jersey if such wagers were legal and could generate $100 million in tax revenue for the state.
Governor Corzine will seek to join the lawsuit Lesniak filed in March on behalf of himself as a state senator, the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association and two horse racing groups. The suit asserts that federal law unconstitutionally regulates commerce and discriminates against states were sports betting is forbidden.
“Sports betting in the U.S. is unregulated, untaxed and illegal,” Lesniak said. “Rather than supporting thousands of jobs, economic activity and tourism, the federal ban supports offshore operators and organized crime.”
“Delaware’s entry into sports wagering and table games is a serious threat to the both the casino and horse racing industries in New Jersey,” Governor Corzine said. “We must do everything in our power to stay competitive. We simply cannot afford to sit back and let neighboring states press an unfair advantage against us anytime, and certainly not in the midst of this global economic crisis.” |
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Written by Thomas Jensen
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Friday, 05 June 2009
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 Point-Spreads.com has learned that a number of news outlets have reported that the Minnesota ISP “black list” situation has been resolved. As you may recall from back at the end of April 2009, written notice to block internet gambling websites was served to AT&T Internet Services, San Antonio; Charter Communications, St. Louis; Comcast Cable, Moorestown, N.J.; Direct TV, Los Angeles; Dish Network, Englewood., Colo.; Embarq and Sprint/Nextel, both of Overland Park, Kan.; Frontier Communications, Stamford, Conn.; Qwest, Denver; Verizon Wireless, Bedminster, N.J.; and Wildblue Communications, Greenwood Village, Colo.
While iMEGA, the Minnesota attorney-general’s office and the Department of Public Safety have been involved with efforts to reach a settlement, as of today no final agreement has been reached.
Press reports that iMEGA has declared victory in this matter are inaccurate. While we cannot speak to whatever information other organizations or officials are basing their own public statements, Point-Spreads.com has learned that it is the position of iMEGA, the Minnesota attorney-general and the Deparment of Public Safety that no settlement agreement exisits concerning the internet gambling "black list" at this time, and that statements of other parties outside of the negotiation are speculative and premature.
However, it is our hope that this matter may be resolved as quickly as possible, so that Minnesota residents may rest easy and feel no threat of censorship of their Internet service. |
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Written by Thomas Jensen
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Wednesday, 29 April 2009
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 As the online gambling industry converges on Amsterdam to attend the Amsterdam Affiliate Conference and as Congress gets ready to debate the issue of internet gambling regulations, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED) announced that it has served written notice to 11 national and regional telephone and Internet service providers (ISPs) instructing them to prohibit access of all Minnesota-based computers to nearly 200 online gambling websites. Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association, iMEGA will be reaching out to all concerned parties today to block this action.
Written notice was served to AT&T Internet Services, San Antonio; Charter Communications, St. Louis; Comcast Cable, Moorestown, N.J.; Direct TV, Los Angeles; Dish Network, Englewood., Colo.; Embarq and Sprint/Nextel, both of Overland Park, Kan.; Frontier Communications, Stamford, Conn.; Qwest, Denver; Verizon Wireless, Bedminster, N.J.; and Wildblue Communications, Greenwood Village, Colo.
“We are putting site operators and Minnesota online gamblers on notice and in advance,” says John Willems, director of AGED. “Disruption of these sites’ cash flow will negatively impact their business models. State residents with online escrow accounts should be aware that access to their accounts may be jeopardized and their funds in peril.”
Believed the first attempt by a state to employ this federal statute to restrict access to internet 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.
Response from the notified ISPs is expected within two to three weeks, at which time issues of non-compliance will be referred to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Acknowledging the effort as an initial sample, Willems anticipates the program expanding to address thousands of sites, depending on compliance. He notes that the required technology to restrict geographic access to particular sites is a relatively straightforward procedure on the part of service providers.
In the written notices, AGED also provided the sites’ telephone numbers and requested access to those numbers by Minnesotans to be prohibited. For more than two decades, telecoms have shut down telephone numbers at the request of law enforcement agencies when believed to be involved in illegal activities, such as sports book-making telephone numbers.
“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.” |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 29 April 2009 )
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Written by Thomas Jensen
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Monday, 20 April 2009
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 Point-Spreads.com lands the first post retirement interview with Bodog founder Calvin Ayre. We caught up with Calvin Ayre over the phone from his Antiguan beach villa just after the news broke earlier today that Morris Mohawk Gaming Group had acquired the Bodog.com domain name portfolio.
Here is the exclusive interview Point-Spreads.com had today with Calvin Ayre:
TJ: The big question...how did Bodog get its domains back?
CALVIN AYRE: Credit has to go to Alwyn Morris and the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group for that. As you know, the MMGG has the exclusive license to the Bodog brand for online gaming in the US.
It is a matter of public record that default judgment was obtained against a long-defunct supplier in Costa Rica that, among other things, provided domain registration and management services. They were – regrettably – allowed to include “Bodog” in their corporate name to make registration of domains simpler. In retrospect, that was obviously a mistake. So, rightly or wrongly, when the patent trolls got their judgment, they also seized control of the domains that were registered by the supplier.
The MMGG had nothing to do with that lawsuit or the domain seizure – they were never a party to that process in any way. However, since the supplier was never going to have the resources to buy the domains back and since the US business had already been transitioned to the MMGG at that point, the only party that had any interest in the domains or that case was always going to be the MMGG.
It’s not surprising, but the details of the brand licensing model aren’t necessarily understood by players or suppliers, so there was ongoing market confusion about who was subject to this judgment and what its impact might be. Alwyn made the right business decision, I believe, by acquiring the domains and removing this distraction.
It’ll be great for the MMGG and great for the Bodog brand… bodog.com is back!
TJ: So, if the domains were acquired by the MMGG, what does this mean for Bodog?
CALVIN AYRE: What did this mean for Bodog? Only good things. As you may have already heard, the MMGG has just cut a deal with the Bodog licensing group to use several of the core domains. Since Bodog simply licenses the brand and doesn’t operate anything anymore, the decision was made, outside of the MMGG’s territory, to redirect www.bodog.com to the appropriate brand licensee site. Anyone world wide can type in bodog.com and they will end up on the right site run by the right Bodog brand licensee.
Geo-targeting will be used to direct visitors to the correct licensee sites – so, someone in the MMGG’s territory will be directed to the one and only www.bodog.com, someone in the UK will be directed to www.bodog.co.uk, someone in Asia will be routed to Haydock’s to-be-launched site, and so on.
This way, the marketing efforts of every licensee to promote bodog.com benefit all of the licensees, creating a virtuous circle that ultimately reinforces and strengthens the global brand. I think it’s brilliant.
TJ: So, what were the terms of the settlement? |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 April 2009 )
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Morris Mohawk Gaming Group has announced that the