If the US Doesn't Regulate Online Casinos, the Terrorists Win
At the same time that news was breaking that al-Qaeda and other radical organizations may be using unregulated online casinos to launder money, Bloomberg.com was reporting that E*Trade is being fined $1 million for failing to meet requirement for screening procedures that detect money laundering. Sherman Bradley, Online Casino Advisory senior gaming analyst, said, "It doesn't take a genius to connect these dots. "E*Trade and its competitors are as likely a target for terrorists and other launderers as any online gambling site. That's why Congress demands these companies know with whom they do business, and report shady or suspicious activity.
"So, now that militant groups know that there are watchdogs and rules guarding against them in place in the securities exchanges, intelligence says they have moved on to zero in on Internet casinos. Logic dictates that similar regulation and licensing of legalized online casinos in the US would safeguard these sites against terrorist abuse.
"In fact, online gambling operators could assist homeland security much like they do sports leagues in Europe, alerting authorities whenever suspicious patterns emerged."
For those who wondered whether the software to enact Bradley's plan exists, regulators reprimanded E*Trade for not installing "automated electronic systems specifically designed to detect potentially manipulative trading in customer accounts."
In fact, the complaint against the online brokerage was specically that it had assigned employees to track unusual trades without making proper use of automated tools, so the software definitely exists. Regulation of online gambling becomes even more necessary. If US legislators want to fine anyone that doesn't do the best possible to fight terrorism, they had better legalize and license online casinos, or break out the wallets.
