America is at it again

[glennda]

Check this out - america trying to rule the world again? what do you guys think?

 

BBC News - Online poker industry in turmoil after US indictments

 

Also try going to this Pokerstars website

[powdarrmonkey]

'Rule the world' is putting it a bit strongly... this is about American money being laundered from American citizens.

 

Also try going to this Pokerstars website

 

Works for me...

[CyberNerd]

 

 

Works for me...

 

refresh your DNS

[MK-2]

refresh your DNS

 

looks like its going to pokerstars.eu not .com

[CyberNerd]

I'm getting:

 

$ nslookup pokerstars.com 8.8.8.8

Server: 8.8.8.8

Address: 8.8.8.8#53

 

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: pokerstars.com

Address: 50.17.223.71

 

 

 

nslookup pokerstars.eu 8.8.8.8

Server: 8.8.8.8

Address: 8.8.8.8#53

 

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: pokerstars.eu

Address: 77.87.179.116

Name: pokerstars.eu

Address: 77.87.180.131

[glennda]

'Rule the world' is putting it a bit strongly... this is about American money being laundered from American citizens.

 

But its them trying to stop people using the services on the internet - i know they have gone around getting the money in stupid ways. But the US allow all sorts of people to by pornography online but not allowed to play poker.

 

I'm guessing they have put the redirect to the EU site so people can still play.

 

This Is what it looks like

http://pokerstars.com/banner7.jpg

[psydii]

I mean this wouldn't really be so much of a big deal if the impact was kept within US borders. I'd suggest the take down of the botnets and filesharers by collaborative efforts between tech companies and law agencies have emboldened them. The question is: Now that they have started to exercise their inherent power over the global internet where will they stop?

 

I'm reminded of this quote:

First they came for the communists,

and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

 

Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

 

Then they came for the Jews,

and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

 

Then they came for me

and there was no one left to speak out for me.

 

 

This sort of behaviour, I'd suggest threatens to create a sound and valid reason for, say, China to set up competing Internet Authorities, and in effect split the internet (I hear IPv6 is getting more traction on that side of the world too). Given Europe and the US's somewhat precarious credit ratings at present, i'd really like to not be on the wrong side of that split..

[WStore_Dan]

I'm a poker player myself and play online 2-3 times a week. This has made a huge difference to all the prize pools etc. I really feel for the US players because a lot of them do this as their main source of income. The banning of them playing online is effectively taking away their livelihood.

 

I hope the players will all rally together to help get the law changed so they can deposit online again for the benefit of not just the US players but the rest of the world

[RabbieBurns]

Is gambling illegal in the USA?

[WStore_Dan]

No. Its not illegal to play poker online either. However, the processing of payment from US people to the online gaming companies is illegal. So while you can play online, you cannot legally deposit or withdraw funds

 

The poker sites got around this by investing in smaller struggling banks in return for the banks processing player payments for them. There is a lot more to it than this but it gives you an idea

[RabbieBurns]

SO how are they meant to play poker online if they cant pay for it? That's like saying its not illegal to drive a motor car, just as long as you don't pay a petrol station for your fuel is it not?

 

I followed the story this last week closely seeing as it was an aussie that turned snitch to bust them all, but the part of the equation I coulndt understand was why it was such a big deal / illegal / whatever in the US.

 

You see in the simpsons and american TV about 'illegal' poker games going on in garages and in pubs behind closed doors etc, and the fact that everyone was always going to vega, i was under the impression that folks had to go thereo do their gambling

 

(they should just try banning alcohol, see if that works)

[localzuk]

The US govt should be able to go about an investigation, that's their right, but they should not be able to go about seizing domains and assets/bank accounts without an actual guilty judgement. It'd be like a police man coming up to you and saying 'we reckon you've been stealing, so we're emptying your bank account and taking your TV until we find out whether you have'...

 

Gambling in the USA is determined by state law, and city bylaws. The laws being used here were implemented after a huge amount of pressure from the existing casinos in places like Vegas and Atlantic City. So, basically the law was implemented to protect existing businesses.