Online Casino Cases Under the Radar to Avoid Public Discontent
A whole new front of offensives against online casinos has been opened since the Obama administration took charge of the US Department of Justice, but publicity for the legal maneuvers has been scarce. One gaming analyst says that the quiet tactics are deliberate, as education of the general public as to the methods and goals of the DoJ would only arouse anger and disgust against the government."What statements are released are terse and uninformative," says Online Casino Advisory senior gaming analyst Sherman Bradley. "In those instances when facts are revealed, the language is crafted in such a way as to spin the topic away from online gambling."
Bradley cites the recent revelation of a federal task force to pursue the funds used to pay US residents who have won at Internet gaming sites. The news release about the task force mentioned it had been formed to fight mortgage fraud "and other financial crimes," without a word about online casinos.
"Prosecutors are familiar with polls by such publications as USA Today, showing that better than nine of ten respondents want to be able to play at online gambling, without worry about legal troubles," says Bradley. "Further, it certainly doesn't thrill them to admit their campaign against online gambling to protect US consumers centers on confiscating the money belonging to those consumers."
Warrants to seize bank accounts were sealed, supposedly to hide sensitive information about ongoing investigations. But, after a lawsuit by a media outlet to make the warrant public, a judge reviewed the information, and found no harm in the publication of most of the content.
"Obama campaigned on the concept of correcting legal abuses by the Bush DoJ. But it seems the same special interests still control policies, as US Attorneys try to devise trickery to avoid due process, written statutes, and court rulings to oppose a form of entertainment that the average person would prefer to be available.
"Publicizing the activities of the DoJ in regard to online gambling can only hurt the President's reputation as a bearer of high standards for government, as well as a supporter of change and justice," asserts Bradley. "And don't even mention sports betting, and the divergence between the public will and public policy there."
