Hello pdq2,
Thank you for your interesting question. The recent legislation passed
by Congress basically signalled the death of online gambling as it
exists now. There will still be online gambling for those outside of
the US, but many of these companies make most of their money from US
customers and until now have gotten away with it by simply basing
their operations overseas and not within the US. However, the recent
legislation made it illegal for online casinos to take credit cards or
money transfers from Americans.
The "270 day grace period" is when the law will go into effect.
Congress needs time to reconcile the two different laws that the House
and Senate have passed into one law. However, many credit cards and
banks have already put the measures into place and might not give
customers a grace period during that time. It is possible an American
could still gain access, but the gambling sites themselves most likely
want to stay far away from Americans at this point and might not
accept your money anyway.
Companies with shares that are publicly listed have been taking the
hit on the stock market, despite the fact that the Dow Jones has had
three record days in a row. Two British gambling CEOs have been
arrested and detained when their planes landed in America on
outstanding warrants from states for fraud. To put it bluntly, it is
NOT a good time to be an online casino operator or have anything to do
with one. Advertising and revenues will suffer. Some will certainly go
out of business completely. The future is not bright for them.
You will not be able to still participate in these sites by only
taking money out-- most of the sites require you to put certain
amounts of money in before you even start to gamble to insure them
against your losses. They want insurance that you will be able to pay
them what you owe when you lose. They would most likely not allow you
to gamble without a prepaid account with them. In the current climate,
if there is any indication that you are an American, they probably
will not want you to gamble with them for their own judicial
protection. The law precludes anyone from knowingly accepting any
money from anyone that they know is an illegal gambler (i.e. an
American.)
You will also most likely not be able to use services such as Neteller
and Firepay to circumvent the spirit of the law. The language in the
bill prevents "financial transaction providers" from sending money to
gambling sites, and those services will most likely be covered within
the confines of the law. They are covered under the language,
?operator of a terminal at which an electronic fund transfer may be
initiated? within the law. Neteller is a British company and so it
might ignore the American laws-- however, if it does and Americans are
still gambling in that way, you can be assured that laws will probably
follow to prohibit American banks specifically from sending money to
Neteller or to foreign banks in general. American banks will most
likely take the initiative themselves and forbid transfers to Neteller
or Firepay.
Sources:
Poker Forum
http://www.thepokerforum.com/inelsonrose1100406.htm
The Economist
"Bets Are Off"
http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_SJDTPVD
Search terms:
site:economist.com gambling
neteller illegal banks
site:slashdot.org neteller
online gambling wikipedia
If you need any additional clarification before rating, let me know
and I'll be glad to assist you.
--keystroke-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
keystroke-ga
on
10 Oct 2006 21:38 PDT
Hello pdq2,
I'm sorry that I did not clarify myself better on the first answer.
(And I'm also sorry about the delay in replying to your
clarification-- the email system is broken and it is difficult for
researchers to see all their clarifications sometimes.) Anyway, thank
you for your patience.
Whether you will be able to continue playing at these sites depends on
which sites they are and what policies they've adopted in the wake of
the US ban. Here is an interesting article:
Business Week--
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/oct2006/gb20061002_683714.htm?chan=tc&chan=technology_technology+index+page_internet
"The unexpected passage of the legislation, which President Bush has
indicated he will sign, is prompting some gambling sites to abandon
the U.S. entirely. Both 888 Holdings and PartyGaming said in
statements on Oct. 2 that they will walk away from the U.S. altogether
when the law takes effect. That means customers trying to enter their
sites from U.S.-based Internet (IP) addresses will be blocked, and the
companies will no longer accept bets placed via credit cards with
U.S.-based billing addresses."
These are a few of the biggest sites, and they've indicated that they
will ban US IP addresses once the law goes into effect. Whether these
are your companies or whether your companies will follow suit I don't
know, so I can't elaborate on your circumstances further. Most sites
will probably follow these companies' lead and do this-- it's the
easiest way to ensure Americans aren't using the site and the sites
aren't breaking any laws. If these are not your companies and you
cannot find any additional information about them on the web, I would
certainly contact them if I were you and find out what their policies
will be. If they ban all US IPs, you won't be able to access the site
to get any of your money or certainly not to keep playing and winning.
If I were you, I would keep playing (as long as you keep winning, of
course:)) as long as you can until the ban goes into effect and make
sure that you get your money out long before then, in case any
problems occur with the transfer.
Best of luck!
--keystroke-ga
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