The U.S. Ban on Online Gambling - Not Unlike the Chinese Ban on Democracy

Tuesday, you could hear the screams of holders of the publicly traded online gambling sites in Europe when the US Congress passed a bill making it a crime to assist in the transfer of funds in the US used for gambling purposes.

I have an online gambling account that I had not used in a very long time. I used to live in the UK. I have/had UK bank accounts. The site is actually a betting exchange - like a stock exchange for bets where you don't bet against a bookie but instead other bettors. I was able to bet legally and treated it as a hobby not unlike an online game like World of Warcraft. The only restriction I had was that as an employee of a UK bank/broker/dealer (and trader), I was not allowed to bet on financial markets. It was a fun hobby while I was there, I remember talking about various bets in the pub after work.

I logged onto the site to see what it would say. I got the following message:

Our software detects that you may be accessing the [website] from the United States. [Our website] does not accept bets from the United States. If you believe that this detection has occurred in error please contact the Help Desk.

I don't know exactly what the message says in Chinese when you try to access a site on democracy or religious freedom but I'm sure it's not disimilar. Of course there are ways to trick a gambling site into not realizing the user is in the US that will turn many otherwise law-abiding citizens into petty criminals. I also fear that making online gambling illegal will also increase the reach of organized crime on the internet. I, for one, will not bother to get involved. I don't see the point in breaking the law for a hobby. The Chinese can access information on Democracy when they travel abroad; I will access my online bets when on vacation. Besides, I have access to the best game on earth - the financial markets.

Gambling is legal in so many forms in the United States that are aimed at the poor - casinos, horse tracks, off-track betting and lotto are good examples. Online gamblers, by their familiarity with the internet and access to financial accounts, are more affluent than "in person" gamblers or those who play lotto. Now, I think that gambling in general causes more social harm than good - but so do cigarettes, alcohol, guns and exposing children to Britany Spears. I find it ironic that the current congress feels it is so important to restrict this type of expression.

Disclosure: I do not own any European online gaming stocks. They are still overvalued.

Comment on this article

Comments

[China Market Research Group]

Please stick to analyzing sectors that you know without spouting about sectors you clearly know nothing about -- i.e. China in this case.

There needs to be a line on this site where the contributors do not discuss things that they know nothing about otherwise the veracity of ALL the postings on Seeking Alpha themselves are called into question. How can we take seriously the postings when we run into something like this?

It is extremely irresponsible to criticize/ discuss elements of China as a purported expert when you know nothing about it, especially when you put it in the headline of your article. This is Yellow journalism of the bygone 1910s.

This author's ramblings on the state of China are absurd and patently wrong. He writes:

"The Chinese can access information on Democracy when they travel abroad". Actually, such information can be accessed in China. Have you been to China? Have you done research into the Chinese internet sphere before making such sweeping comments?

You further go on to say,

"Our software detects that you may be accessing the [website] from the United States. [Our website] does not accept bets from the United States. If you believe that this detection has occurred in error please contact the Help Desk.

I don't know exactly what the message says in Chinese when you try to access a site on democracy or religious freedom but I'm sure it's not disimilar."

Nothing like this happens whatsoever. Some sites are indeed banned but not many and the sites simply time out. I just typed in democracy and democracy China in my google search engine and nothing was blocked.

And for general subjects like the ones you mentioned, they are not. I am not passing judgment here whatsoever on the censorship that exists in China's internet sphere, but I don't like people couching themselves as experts who certainly are not.

Seriously, this posting does not pass muster whatsoever from a quality standpoint. These types of posts need to be vetted out otherwise it puts into question the quality of the postings here.

Now, we can certainly debate merits of stocks etc. or have different opinions on issues, but it it inappropriate to have people who clearly know nothing about something talking about it.

[Jonathan Liss, SA Editor]

I think you are missing the larger intention of David Neubert's post. He was (I believe) using China as an example to make a larger point about American hypocracy on the issue of gambling. China was likely just an easy target, because it is the world's largest totalitarian regime (I don't really think Chinese civil right abuses and lack of freedom of speech are up for debate). the point of the piece is that while online gambling is definitely the cause of social ills, so are other forms of gambling - only OTB and the horse tracks are even worse because they affect the poorer elements of society. Yet the government bans one while funding state programs off the other.

Neubert admits "I don't know exactly what the message says in Chinese when you try to access a site on democracy or religious freedom" - an indication that his China example is merely there to flesh out a point, not to be literal. Basically, he is saying "America claims a moral high ground over countries like China but in truth, they are no better."

[David Neubert]

I don't claim to know much about China at all. As a matter of fact I was suprised to see SeekingAlpha pick this blog entry as I didn't mention any specific stocks in it. It just really freaked me out to be denied access to information because I was located inside the United States.

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