Close Match - US vs. Online Gambling
Published April 5, 2007 by OCR Editor
Linden Lab, a successful online service providing a virtual reality world of second life, found there own special way to deal with the online casino lynch practiced in the US lately. They have invited an open FBI inspection of their entire business, showi
Second Life operates hundreds of casinos but Lab states that they havent received any clear guidance as to ways to act on gambling within the game following the US restrictions and recent anti gambling law. The US department of Justice put great effort in enforcing the new trend of anti gambling waves sweeping the country but some cracks are already starting to form.
Lab still expects to hear more from decision makers and law enforcement officers as he states that even they are not quite sure whether the 3-D simulation of a casino offered by Second Life is just the same as a casino, legality wise.
In the mean time, the founder of BetOnSports, a UK based betting firm, was arrested by eager law enforcement agencies charging him on racketeering and most likely to prosecute him under the new gambling law. However the US did get penalized by the World Trade organization ruling against the anti gambling law pointing at its anticompetitive nature as it treats offshore companies differently then US companies.
