PayPal Gambling Probed

[HotPants]

PayPal gambling probed

N.Y. attorney general reportedly subpoenas company data related to online betting activity.
July 12, 2002: 8:05 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - PayPal said it received a subpoena from the office of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer related to its activities in the online gambling market , according to a report Friday.

The attorney general's office requested information about gambling payments made through the PayPal Web site, company spokesman Vince Sollitto told the Wall Street Journal.


eBay (EBAY: Research, Estimates) said it will close PayPal's links with Internet gambling companies, which make up about 8 percent of its payments, when it completes its $1.5 billion acquisition of the payment company, citing uncertainty about regulations on the market, the report said.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, Christine Prichard, declined to confirm or deny the subpoena, the Journal said. The office has been investigating online gambling, which is expected to bring in $4 billion this year, according to the paper.

In June, Citibank agreed to block the use of its credit cards for gambling payments, and several other credit card companies have done the same. Many online gambling companies are based out of the United States where laws don't apply, so Spitzer is working on other ways to curb the practice, the report said.

PayPal brought in about $117 million in payments from online gambling last quarter, the report said.

Shares of PayPal (PYPL: Research, Estimates) gained 61 cents to $23.05 Thursday.

[freefallin]

do we have any say in this? can PayPal just turn over details of customer activity and bank account information without telling us if it affects us?

[stardust]

What!

freefallin:

What are you - anti-American. Some of these people could be terrorists, money launderers, middlers, scalpers and other undesireable elements of society. They must be rooted out and dealt with in no uncertain terms.

What - you think Paypal is gonna wage some huge legal battle to insure your privacy. HA! Two chances of that are slim and none and slim left town.

Welcome to the new McCartyhism

[The Prophet]

"Don't tread on me"

Stardust makes a great point--I don't need to tell any of you that taking steps to prevent future terrorist attacks is a noble goal. The problem is that grandstanding politicos have been using it as an excuse to a) expand the size of government b) spend our tax dollars like a drunken sailor and c) advance their own personal agendas in the name of "national security" when, in reality, it doesn't have a damn thing to do with it. In the 1990's, the justification that every politician gave for their pet causes was that it was "for the children". Now, it's all a "matter of national security" or a necessary step to "prevent terrorism".

Unfortunately, the media hasn't done a particulary good job of demanding accountability from our elected officials in this manner. The idea that criticizing the nature and substance of anti-terrorism/national security legislation is "unpatriotic" is exactly the sort of cover that these opportunistic scumbags look for. I don't know what the answer is to prevent future terror attacks, but I damn sure know that it isn't to take away freedom from law-abiding American citizens.

My best suggestion is to make sure that your own representives and others that depend on you for votes know about your displeasure when they participate in activities that they try to justify as being in the interest of national security that really aren't. I can't promise that they'll give a rats ass, but at least they'll know that you're on to their scam. Not only is it inherently dishonest, it obfuscates the real goal of protecting our country. It's a damn shame that the people we elect will never have a more serious responsibility than the security of our country and its people and they treat it like just another issue to "spin" and take advantage of.

The fact that the Attorney General of New York can conduct his personal vendetta against online gambling when there are many more pressing issues facing both his state and our country is reprehensible.

JRM
THE PROPHET
www.netprophetsports.com