Law Not Important to Online Casino Prosecutors
The Department of Justice in the US has set an example of ignoring the laws it is supposed to enforce when investigating online gambling, and local prosecutors have followed suit. An Internet gaming website that found a loophole in Washington state laws against online gambling was still driven to close even though no crime was committed.
Betcha.com offered gamblers a forum to place peer-to-peer wagers on the Internet. To make sure that the site stayed within Washington law, the operators allowed participants who lost a bet to click a button saying "I refuse to pay." By giving a renege option, the lawyer who owned the site figured he had avoided breaking laws.
The site did contain a rating system, and individuals who dishonored a bet were unlikely to find anyone willing to gamble with them. Still, by allowing that option, the gaming site took the risk away from players.
A Washington court agreed, saying, "Accordingly, there is nothing risked, which is the essence of both the common law and statutory definition of 'gambling.'"By that point, the state had arrested company founders ans seized its computers in raids, according to a story at Techdirt.
Further, the owner was extradited to Louisiana, charged there with gambling felonies, and allowed to negotiate the charges being dropped if he agreed to certain stipulations, like closing Betcha.
Evidence continues to accumulate that much of US law enforcement is based on getting the perceived bad guy at any cost, a "must-win-can't-lose" mentality that loses sight of the strictures of US justice and law. At some point, prosecutions against overzealous prosecutors may become the rage in American law.
