The Effects of the Federal Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act

[droplister]

Where does the government get off making laws. :tounge_smile:

Dear Dan,

Due to the imminent passing of the Federal Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act on September 30th, we are no longer accepting wagers from residents in the United States.

We regret to inform you that from 11am EST on 3rd October 2006, we will be closing all US gaming accounts. Player’s balances, minus uncleared bonuses, will be returned to players within the next 3 - 4 weeks by check and you will cease to earn revenue share from these players in the future.

PartnerLogic and all of its brands will still be operating at full strength in markets outside of the USA. These markets have been our fastest growing in the past two years, and we very much look forward to working with you to grow other non-US Global markets even faster.

In our view, offering online gaming affiliate services is still allowed, so long as you do not earn a revenue share from referring players residing in the US. Therefore, your PartnerLogic account will remain open. I must however clearly state that you are not permitted to use this account for any wagering (i.e. playing at InterCasino, VIP Casino, InterBingo or InterPoker ). If you do wager with your account, it will be immediately closed and you will forfeit any affiliate payments otherwise payable to you.

In the next few days we will be offering you a number of tools and services to assist you in marketing to selected International territories, all of which the PartnerLogic team has a wealth of knowledge in.

As the world’s oldest and most respected online casino, we very much hope that in the medium term, the USA will see fit to license and regulate online gaming. In the meantime, we will celebrate InterCasino’s 10th birthday on the 23rd November 2006 with our growing International player base and our loyal affiliate partners.

Yours sincerely,

Marc Waxman
Head of Partnership Marketing

 

[Keynes]

Bill Frist needs to have a few drinks over a Hold'em game with his Washington buddies. But seriously, this is an issue of taxation, not morality, don't let anyone kid you on that issue.

 

[Theo]

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Online gaming firms faced their biggest-ever crisis on Monday after U.S. Congress unexpectedly passed legislation to ban online gaming there, threatening jobs and hitting stocks by as much as 70 percent.
Britain's PartyGaming Plc, operator of leading online poker site PartyPoker.com, and rivals Sportingbet and 888 Plc said they would likely pull out of the United States and warned on future profits.
PartyGaming's shares fell 59 percent by 0725 GMT, while Sportingbet lost 64 percent, 888 was down 45 percent and gaming software provider Playtech fell 55 percent. Austria's bwin.com Interactive Entertainment fell as much as 22 percent in the first few minutes of trading.
U.S. Congress unexpectedly approved a bill early on Saturday that would make it illegal for banks and credit-card companies to make payments to online gambling sites.
The House of Representatives and Senate approved the measure and sent it to President George W. Bush to sign into law. Most analysts think his approval is certain.
"We believe that this will have a very material impact on the long-term prospects of online gambling, and in particular poker," said analyst Julian Easthope at UBS. "This will lead to a rapid decline in the use of online poker sites."
PartyGaming generates about 78 percent of its revenue from the United States, while Sportingbet gets about 62 percent there.
PartyGaming said in a statement: "If the president signs the act into law, the company will suspend all real money gaming business with U.S. residents, and such suspension will continue indefinitely.
"Any such suspension would also result in the group's financial performance falling significantly short of consensus forecasts for 2006 and 2007," it added.
PartyGaming's smaller rival Sportingbet said the likely ban would hit trading, and said it had scrapped a planned merger with World Gaming as a result of the passing of the legislation.
888 Plc said the move would hit its results, but stressed it remained a profitable and viable business.
Any ban would also hit payment-processors like Neteller Plc and Optimal Group's FireOne subsidiary.
Neteller Plc said the legislation would have a "material adverse effect" on its U.S.-facing business.

 

[Joe]

strictly an issue of taxation! The U.S. govt. wants its share of online gaming profits. Offline, gambling is legal in almost all U.S. states, from casino boats, to local and indian gaming casinos, card clubs, horse race betting, and of course the gambling meccas of Las Vegas and Atlanta City. Let's also not forget about the fact that nearly all 50 states participate in lotteries, and sell lotto tickets with huge jackpots on a daily, weekly, and semi-weekly basis! Morality has nothing to do with the new legislation.

-Joe

 

[Theo]

Another reason to oust this insane Bush administration.

 

[katherine]

Taxation yes, but I also see some lobbies influencing the lawmakers behind the scenes.
Taxation is serious stuff in the US, for the record the US is one of the few nations that taxes its non-resident nationals on their worldwide income (above a certain threshold however). On an unrelated note anybody remember the John Doe subpoena on offshore credit card issuers a few years back. Uncle Sam will quite litterally track you until the end of the world to make sure you pay your "dues".

 

[Irish31]

I hope this crap doesn't sift down to us in Canada. Some fo the laws you guys are passing lately really are starting to remind me of 1984.


Jay

 

[droplister]

My inbox has about 5 of these emails, all similarly worded.

 

[Focus]

an ever increasing police state...it never ends...pretty soon you won't be able to wipe your a$$ without paying taxes on the crap you flush down the toilet.

 

[labrocca]

From my understanding this only prevents payments to them via credit card or bank. Doesn't say anything about making the gambling itself illegal. Why not fund your account with a postal money order?

 

[Leading Names]

Good BBC report on this (Video) that suggests protectionism is the main motive behind the ban.

visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5397920.stm and click the "watch" button.

- Rob

 

[Steen]

So what about an offshore processor like PayPal. What stops the Bahamian ePassporte from allowing its US customers to deposit money that goes on to poker sites?

 

[DNjet]

So what about an offshore processor like PayPal. What stops the Bahamian ePassporte from allowing its US customers to deposit money that goes on to poker sites?

thats exactly what the banks response to the bill was, they think its rediculous.

 

[Duckinla]

I've done my share of online gambling, but I've never been under the illusion that the U.S. government didn't have any rights to regulate or tax it. In fact, I've always figured it was illegal. I don't really understand all the outrage in this forum to this legislation. I don't like it myself but what is so abnormal about it? You can't just open a casino on the street corner, why would we think you just open one in someone's living room in total violation of any existing local, state or federal laws? I have taken online gaming for granted for several years, but I've never thought it was sanctioned by the federal government.

 

[dvestors]

So what about an offshore processor like PayPal. What stops the Bahamian ePassporte from allowing its US customers to deposit money that goes on to poker sites?

I know someone who makes a living playing poker online, I asked him what he's going to do now, and he said what you did above. Use paypal, epassporte, and a few others.

 

[dvestors]

Haven't noticed a drop in Fab earnings yet..has anyone?

 

[Theo]

Haven't noticed a drop in Fab earnings yet..has anyone?

You won't, until the law is signed by Bush and the mainstream media pick up on it. Then, advertisers will notice. It's the beginning of a chain reaction.

 

[dvestors]

Ahh, I guess I read my affiliate emails too fast, thought they had already stopped paying out for US sign-ups. I noticed Fab has new 'top' advertisers that have replaced party poker,etc.

 

[Duckinla]

I am now receiving notices from my online gambling joints that nothing will change with the new law and they still intend to serve U.S. customer.

 

[Steen]

I am now receiving notices from my online gambling joints that nothing will change with the new law and they still intend to serve U.S. customer.

Interesting.

It would be fascinating to see who was short selling the major UK plcs in the days before this announcement. Any lawmakers or government workers?