I am working on a project with my roommate to raise more money for
charity than any 2 college students have ever done before. Pretty
cool, eh?
To do this, we are about to launch an online betting site that is not
like any other out there, and want to find out before hand if I am
doing anything explicitly illegal. Here are the components of it,
please go through and verify the legality of each to be the best of
your ability.
Thanks in advance.
-----Components to check
1. this site requires an initial "buy-in" using its integration with
paypal. the fees are passed on the front end to the user.
2. once in the system, anybody can create a bet. creators will be
known as "judges", will determine the bet outcome, determine the
charity to benefit from the bet rake, and will have profiles of past
bet decisions.
3. users can go through and browse bets that seem attractive, view the
judge details, and the charity which benefits. they then enter bets
to their own discretion.
4. all bets created will be real situations, therefore this is not the
traditional gambling, which involves random variables (think internet
poker). bets on sports and other taboo subjects are also prohibited,
are we now safe to allow bets?
5. at the conclusion of a bet, the judge will determine the winner(s).
there is room for an appeal process, but usually the decision stays.
6. we will "rake" the winning bet pool. the majority of this money
will go to the charity, as stated, and the rest will go towards site
upkeep. we will explicitly state how much money we have donated to
charity, but not release how much stays internally.
7. to withdraw money, users must have a specified amount of money in
the system. they can withdraw money at any time every 3-4 days.
8. we plan on investing money that is in the system to a safe amount,
so it will not just sit in an account.
9. the server for this site is in the United States.
-----
Please let me know what your advice is towards proceeding with this
site. I do not want to get shut down before it can become a popular
service, but also do not see the purpose in writing legal agreements
until it is necessary. |
