Responses to NCAA Betting Inquiry

The 100 million members strong social community Facebook "does not condone the use of the site for any unlawful purposes, and users must agree as part of the terms of use not to conduct illegal activity."

Such was the statement made by the company, following reports that the FBI was looking into its NCAA basketball tournament, also known as March Madness, betting pools.

Online betting on the tournament reached mass popularity this year via platforms available on Facebook. The FBI got involved recently as it suspected illegal activity under the United States federal law, banning any sort of online betting. It was illegal, it claimed, for the operators to take a cut, it said.

This threatened to dampen the widely popular practice of college students, office workers, and just about anyone who have traditionally participated in NCAA college basketball tournament betting pools.

These applications – their number is estimated at several thousands – are not merely by and of individual users. CBSSports.com itself has developed an application that makes it easier for Facebook users to become involved in betting pools. Users can fill out brackets and compare picks with their friends on the site.

CBS senior vice president LeslieAnne Wade has commented on the legal developments, saying promoting online gambling was "not our intent with the application."

Facebook and CBS are two mainstream ways in which the American population participates in March Madness betting pools. The new media and openness it provides is alarming to the FBI and its conservative ethics. The authorities might have to accept the changing times and endure some of the betting, which is, at the end of the day, nothing new.