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Professor wrote:Guys Larry Walters is on Vacation this week :hithead:
Wow! Haahahahaa… He sure picked SOME week to go on vacation!!!! :woo-hoo:
Thanks so much Prof! Look forward to viewing that.
Excerpted:
“Any U.S. based individuals referred by you to our Internet sites will not be permitted to open new real money accounts and you will therefore not be able to receive any commissions in relation to such persons. Please note that there are no new restrictions under the new law which prevents you from promoting the 888 brands to non-US players. Please contact us at [email protected] or your account manager for further details.”
Thanks Lou.
It’s very good to see I’m involved in a community with a complete commitment with law.
I think we’ll need some help,advice,tip in order to re write the “disclaimer” in our sites.
Great idea Prof.
we would appreciate it if the report can address also Non US based affiliates that have US traffic.
Anxious to know when Larry is getting back…
Professor, can you please give us an update if you have one.
Thanks
Today is a bank holiday here in the states and Larry Walters Office was closed sleepy.gif
I am not giving up until I see him and get us some answers. I left messages today and will be on them again first thing in the morning. His office is only about 35 minutes from me, so as soon as he’s available, Im there.
Is this the larry walter? aka lawrence walter -article from st. pete times on OCT 4th
An estimated 8-million Americans who wager over the Internet are sorting out the odds they can still play in the wake of new federal legislation making it difficult to fund online gambling accounts.
To online gambling legal expert Lawrence Walters, it appears “the game is over, so to speak, for American players.”
“The closest thing we’ve ever seen to this kind of widespread federal prohibition is Prohibition on alcohol,” Walters, an Orlando-area partner with the law firm of Weston, Garrou, DeWitt and Walters, said of the congressional legislation passed last weekend. “But here, we have a worldwide industry that has developed. It’s become a part of our culture and part of the global economy, and overnight the United States has criminalized this ongoing economic force.”
Walters talked Wednesday with the hosts of St. Petersburg Times’ Ante Up! poker podcast about what effect the legislation will have on the $12-billion-a-year industry. Here are some excerpts:
Point blank, what does this mean for online gamblers?
For the individual gambler sitting behind a computer, it may not mean much, and no one will be going to prison under this new law. … But it means a lot for the actual operators of the gambling sites and the banking institutions and financial institutions that service the industry. … The industry has received this law, and interpreted it as an all-out ban on any further offering of Internet gambling to U.S. citizens, and all the major companies are now taking steps to stop any further service to online bettors in the United States.
Should gamblers start taking their money out of online sites?
If I were gambling man, which I’m not, I’d take my money and run. There’s no telling what’s going to happen to the deposits.
Will some of these sites close up shop?
Most of the major players are likely to pull out of the U.S. market, and the face of Internet gambling will change dramatically for American player.
Are there just too many loopholes in this law to make it effective?
Internet gambling is here to stay. And the U.S. government can pass laws until it is blue in the face and it’s not going to stop the individual bettor from finding a way to place a bet online. For a little while, it’s going to be tougher for the U.S. player to find a way to gamble online, but it’s not going to be impossible.
Where do you think this is all going to head?
The industry has been clamoring for regulation for years. They don’t want to operate as outlaws; they don’t want to operate on the sidelines; they don’t want to be marginalized. They want to operate as an embraced industry. They want to pay taxes. … I would think that the industry would fight hard for some sort of regulation. But I can’t imagine that this presidential administration will do a 180 and seek to embrace the online gambling industry.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
Lawrence Walters of the law firm Weston, Garrou, DeWitt & Walters and a leading expert on online gambling law joined us to talk about Congress’ recent action to block Americans from funding online gambling sites through their banks and credit cards. Here are the highlights:
WHAT IT MEANS: Very little punitively to individual gamblers, but a lot for online gambling companies and banks. Many online gambling companies have taken the law to be a ban on online gambling and are cutting off access to U.S. players. “The game is over, so to speak, for the American players,” Walters said.
WHY PUBLIC COMPANIES ARE BLOCKING U.S. PLAYERS, BUT PRIVATE ONES AREN’T: Public companies have to answer to shareholders, and engaging in an operation the U.S. government deems to be illegal opens up a host of headaches for them, Walters said. Conversely, private companies, if they are O.K. with assuming the risk, have more flexibility to continue to cater to U.S. customers.
SHOULD AMERICANS TAKE THEIR MONEY OUT OF ONLINE SITES?: Walters says yes.
WILL SOME SITES CLOSE UP?: Very likely, Walters said, though a consequence of the climate may mean other new companies will emerge, and how dependable they prove to be might be hard to ascertain.
HOW NETELLER AND OTHER THIRD-PARTY SITES WILL BE AFFECTED: They won’t be named specifically in the ensuing regulations, Walters said, and are in a unique situation since they don’t know what a customer plans to do with their money when they deposit it in a Neteller account.
WHAT ABOUT LOOPHOLES LIKE CUTTING CHECKS AND SETTING UP FOREIGN BANK ACCOUNTS?: Internet gambling is not going away, Walters said, and U.S. bettors will always find a way to get their money to gambling sites. It may be harder in the short-term, but not impossible.
WHEN WILL SEE LAWSUITS?: The law is poorly worded and susceptible to suits from a number of sources, Walters says. But the challenge will be finding someone to be a party to one. An online gambling entity will have to be brave enough to enter the complaint in the U.S. justice system. If they do, the law likely will be struck down.
WILL THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION INTERVENE?: Possibly, Walter says. Challenges to previous claims of a ban have been processed and may provide a roadmap to a more successful challenge in the future. The U.S. government will be in a difficult spot if a challenge is mounted since gambling is legal in just about every state.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?: The online industry will continue to push for regulation, but Walters says that’s unlikely unless there is a change in leadership in the White House and Congress.
Thanks for this article, but I have yet to see anyone weigh in on the effect to affiliates.
Prof, looking forward to hearing what he thinks about that.
From interactive gaming news:
Larry Walters: The new legislation will likely drive the larger companies out of the U.S. market. The law is poorly drafted and subject to challenge by the industry, but the consensus appears to be to comply and block U.S. financial transactions. That will make room for the smaller, unregulated operators to acquire U.S. players seeking a new home for their betting activities. Internet gambling will not go away, and U.S. players will find a place to bet. The real question remains: What will companies like Neteller do? Will they buckle under the pressure of U.S. authority or rely on their host country’s sovereignty and continue business as usual?
Certainly, U.S. players will find it somewhat more difficult to wager online, in the short term. But as smaller operators flock to the space opened up by the exiting of larger companies, the void will be filled. This is a remarkable change from just a year ago, when consolidation and acquisition were the words of the day, and the smaller operators found it hard to survive in an industry of multi-million dollar behemoths.
A final variable is the potential for judicial review of the legislation. Perhaps one of the industry’s trade groups or a larger company that has ceased offering services to U.S. players may decide to pursue a legal challenge to the legislation. Given the way this law was rushed through passage, it may be vulnerable to a legal challenge. Then it’s anyone’s guess what a court may do.
Can’t anybody around here define what “illegal internet gambling” is? For crying out loud… if you look in the definitions within the federal law system, this STILL only applies to SPORTSBETTING. By allowing transfers to an online poker room or casino, we are not facilitating any “illegal internet gambling” as defined by law.
Yep thats the Lawrence Walters I am refering to. He’s the most respected attorney specializing in Online Gaming and I hold his legal opinions and advice in the highest regard.
Quote:The industry has been clamoring for regulation for years. They don’t want to operate as outlaws; they don’t want to operate on the sidelines; they don’t want to be marginalized. They want to operate as an embraced industry. They want to pay taxes. … I would think that the industry would fight hard for some sort of regulation.Really, I wish people would stop saying things like that.
I’ve been biting my tongue for awhile now. Nobody wants to be regulated and nobody wants to be taxed.
If an entity *does* want to be regulated, it’s because they think it gains an advantage to them in order to stifle competition. They would like to protect a first mover advantage or they think they are more savvy with the regulators.
Yeah, it’s better than attempted prohibition. Taxation causes problems too, just with a smaller magnitude. There’s not much of a philosophical reason for anyone to regulate or tax me if I decide to bet on something with my neighbor, any other consenting adult, or any organization I wish to bet with.
It bugs me a little that so many people take it as a given that anything should be regulated and taxed, let alone EVERYTHING as it generally is now.
Online gambling certainly wants to be regulated because of the boon it would create for the industry. While there are tons of people gambling online now, there are just as many sitting on the sidelines thinking it is dangerous to be doing so with an offshore outfit that they have never heard of. With regulation, an online casino or poker site can assure a player that their money is safe, thus opening up the market to many more willing players. That is why they want to be regulated IMHO.
Definitely looking forward to Walter’s opinion. Thanks for taking the initiative Professor.
