That may be the question here. More details are emerging about the indictment and seizure of three major online poker sites two weeks ago. And those details are pointing at the possibility that the indictment and seizure was meant to serve as a way to intimidate US citizens about playing online poker and other casinos games in online casinos.
Professor I. Nelson Rose certainly thinks this is an intimidation tactic. He says, “The timing of these indictments is suspect. The grand jury has been meeting for at least one year and on the indictment itself, it is dated March 10th, but they did not release it until April 15th. Why now? What has happened?”
What has happened is that online poker and online gambling in general is beginning to get more attention. For one thing states need the revenue to fill in holes in their budgets and US citizens want to play. As a result several states, which we have followed here at onlinecasinosuite.com, have begun discussing bills to create an intrastate online gambling or online poker network that would allow residents of their state to gamble online. These bills have met with varying degrees of success or unsuccess, but the point is that where there were no discussions, they are beginning to happen; and more states are joining New Jersey, Florida, California, Nevada, Iowa and Hawaii in pondering online gambling regulation.
But the icing on the cake was when Washington DC came out of nowhere and legalized their bill for intrastate online poker. Right there in DC, right under the Conservatives’ noses online poker passed. Now the Conservatives, who appear to have been building momentum and biding their time, have struck.
Rose continues by saying, “There was a lot of movement in March and April to legalize Internet poker in particular. I think what is going on, at least part of this, is the Department of Justice has been waging a war of intimidation, quite successfully, to scare the players, operators, affiliates and payment processors into not doing business in the United States.”
Rose’s point certainly explains why they would rather try to quash online casinos and online poker rooms than to legalize it, regulate it and generate jobs and revenue. And while Poker Stars and Full Tilt have bowed to the Conservatives (who must be roosting in the Department of Justice), Absolute Poker has not and is considering legal action against the US. Antigua and Barbados are considering bringing the World Trade Organization into the matter.
The timing is right. The events surrounding the indictment are right. The hold on a release of the indictment is right. It certainly seems to add up that the online poker indictment were meant as an intimidation tactic. The question now will be will federal lawmakers allow this fascist behavior and allow another Prohibition of sorts, or will they move this country forward?
It was incredible that the Bush administration tool Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R – Tenn.) at the time, could get this Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) attached to the Safe Port bill in the first place. But it was another in a string of stupid mistakes made by Bush to tear at the fabric of America and rip it to shreds. Here they they took American companies out of the picture and allowed foreign companies to take control of the very lucrative online gaming business. Why would that happen? Because of the zealots that were running this country (into the ground) at the time. Who should we blame for this mess? Here’s a clue: George W. Bush signed the SAFE Port Act into law in 2006. Essentially, by signing the bill into law, Bush has made it illegal for online gambling companies to accept money from U.S. financial institutions. What a Donk