US Court Subpoenas Gambling Portals

[Bettorsworld]

US Court Subpoenas Gambling Portals
At least one portal site has been subpoenaed to appear in a U.S. federal court in relation to advertising online gambling services. The subpoena, handed down Sept. 10, 2003, could be part of a wide-scale investigation.

Interactive Gaming News has obtained a copy of a subpoena to testify Oct. 29 before a grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri. The operator of the portal site provided a copy of the subpoena on the condition of anonymity.

The court has asked the operator to turn over all commercial and financial information from Jan. 1, 1997 to the present related to the advertisement of online casinos and sports books.

Rumors that the court had served a number of portal operators and other media outlets (some of them major) swirled for several days before the aforementioned subpoena was obtained.

Among information requested in the subpoena was all the "names and all identifying and contact information you have for every point of contact for each such gambling advertiser."



The subpoena also calls for the turning over of any information about advertisements placed on TV, radio or cablecasts. The court, through the subpoena, asks for any accounting records including accounts receivable or accounts payable. They also ask the portal to turn over records of sales calls, telephone records, contracts, invoices, records of negotiations pertaining to payment, e-mail correspondence (both incoming and outgoing), financial transactions, annual gross revenue for the site, information on how advertising revenue was received and the names of financial institutions and account numbers pertaining to the business.

Finally, the subpoena calls for the operator to turn over any notes or correspondence relating to the legality of accepting advertising from online casinos and sports books. The subpoena cites letters from DOJ officials to a handful of trade organizations advising them not to accept advertising from such business since it could be in violation of federal law.

One such letter, to the National Association of Broadcasters from Deputy Attorney General John G. Malcolm, was attached to the subpoena. (Click here to view a copy of the NAB letter.)

This it not the first time the Eastern District of Missouri has been involved in an investigation into activity related to online gambling. In a case settled July 25, 2003, U.S. Attorney Raymond W. Gruender went after PayPal Inc. for illegally processing online gambling transactions for customers in the district between June 2000 and November 2002. PayPal, which ceased processing for online gambling services in November 2002, agreed to pay a $10 million fine.

The assistant U.S. attorney handling the lastest grand jury investigation cited a Department of Justice policy that prevented him from commenting on any possible investigation or indictment. He couldn't confirm nor deny any investigation was underway.

IGN will report more on this development as it unfolds.

[noname]

I think this is govt. way of checking on people residing in USA who are backers of e-gambling sites.Just trying to get as much info. as possible and stir it up a little bit with strong arm tatic.

[Unregistered]

Has Bettorsworld been subpoened?

[Unregistered]

Do the owners of bettorsworld read this forum anymore?

Was bettorsworld subpoened?

[Bettorsworld]

No, we were not subpoenaed and we do not know who was.

[Unregistered]

It looks like Don Best, Jim Feist and Wayne Root have all removed advertising. Will someone that knows people in these organizations please take the time to let us know what is going on? I would expect bettorsworld, with their longstanding ties to this community, to be a leader in this regard.

[pud]

if bw has to give up its sportsbook ads ... will bw stay in biz? how?

[Bettorsworld]

We don't have a lot of inside information on this situation and we feel that it may be blown out of proportion to some extent. The Daily Racing Form's website is still taking sportsbook ads as are many others. There is no law against taking advertising for certain types of business---after all, the porn industry advertises all over the net.

We feel that we would hear firsthand if there were a true problem with the advertising. If we get any information, you can be sure we will pass it along to you guys. We just don't want to take this potentially insiginficant situation and pay it any more attention than necessary.

As for how would we stay in business? We'd have to restructure our business model obviously, but we could certainly continue to educate readers about the offshore world.

[Unregistered]

Thanks for the update Bettorsworld keep us posted if you hear anything.

[Bettorsworld]

This issue is still creeping into the news on other sites, and just to let everyone know we are staying abreast of the situation.....we have received no additional news on this. Everyone is still striking advertising deals and promoting themselves pretty much as usual. With giants like BetOnSports promoting themselves on buses, taxis and in Maxim magazine, it is hard to imagine that the government is really making a serious attempt to crack down on this.

We have heard that this was the result of a disgruntled federal district attorney in the midwest who does not agree with online gambling. If this is the case, and these subpoenas truly do turn out to be bogus, this will all fade into the woodwork like so many other "crises" have in the past.