How many people here know that it’s illegal to even advertise online gaming to an Australian? In 2001, our politicians did the same puppet dance the USA is doing now to protect the interests of certain casino, lottery and horse racing groups who were scared of the online threat and ensure their campaign coffers remained well stocked.
Instead of blocking the transactions, they blocked the marketing and acceptance of bets. No provision was ever made to stop citizens from playing, similar to the bill that passed yesterday. And it should be noted that only games of chance were banned (including poker). It is still perfectly legal to place sports bets online in Australia and the government licenses many online sites to do this.
And what has happened since? Poker & Gaming sites are some of the most trafficked websites in Australia and there is advertising popping up everywhere. At Poker.com we turn away thousands of Aussies that want to play, none of them realising that it would be illegal for us to accept their deposits. (as we are based in Australia, we adhere to the law) Australian players are known throughout the industry as one of the juiciest demographics, and not one government employee is assigned to the policing of the law and no arrests or charges have ever been made.
How does this relate to the USA situation?
It just shows that just because a law is written and passed by crooked politicians, it does not necessarily mean it will have much of an effect or that the clueless population will even know about it!
There is rumblings now that the Aussie government knows how stupid they were to try and ban online gaming. They see that it is as popular as ever and that if they did try to enforce the law it would be challenged. They now want to regulate all gaming to ensure they get a slice of the tax dollars, and I’ve heard the law will be changed within a couple of years.
Frist etc made a big mistake yesterday in circumventing the legislative process, and they will regret it in time. Who knows how far down the track this will be, but history has shown that it just does not work to try and stop people from doing certain things, especially if you do it deceptively. The USA, as Australia is, is still a very young government in the scheme of world governments. Compared to Europe the USA has not been around long and still has a lot to learn when it comes to knowing the best way to protect and serve it’s people’s interests. They need to start learning from their mistakes and start being exposed for their income protectionism. This law as many seem to be these days is all about ensuring the ‘RIGHT‘ people continue to make their money. Don’t even get me started on the religious zealots, but campaigning for their votes is a significant factor too.
We all know this law is flawed, hypocritical and very difficult to enforce. I don’t see it going the distance and affecting our industry long term. People will still find a way to do the things they like doing as happened with alcohol prohibition, and if the law even gets through the whole process, it’s unlikely to last long.
It is a speed bump, but in my opinion will be only that, a speed bump, not a brick wall.
But it sure has opened my eyes to how corrupt the US government is. If this sort of thing goes on in plain view of everyone, imagine all the other dodgy things they get up to! What scares me the most about the situation is not the banning of online gaming, but the power that people like Frist wield and the fact that they do not use that power responsibly.