EU launches probe into U.S. online gaming measures

[Steve]

The European Union launched an investigation on Monday into whether U.S. measures on foreign online gambling companies break international rules, possibly paving the way for World Trade Organisation action.

 

European online gaming companies, such as PartyGaming and bwin Interactive Entertainment, complained in December that the U.S. Justice Department was singling out foreign online gambling companies for prosecution.

 

"The U.S. has the right to address legitimate public policy concerns relating to Internet gambling, but discrimination against EU companies cannot be part of the policy mix," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said in a statement.

 

"We are interested in a constructive and mutually satisfactory solution to this issue."

 

The Commission said it would look into the complaints over the next five to seven months and could decide to launch WTO proceedings against the United States if warranted.

 

Separately, the Commission agreed in December to an offer from the United States of openings in other sectors as compensation for closing U.S. gambling market to foreign firms.

 

 

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Basically the government doesn't get a cut and wants to stop Americans from spending money overseas instead of here in the states. Biggest bunch of crock and hypocracy. So what if we want to gamble online? None of the government's business. If you spend it in Vegas or on the lottery its all well and fine but its bad and evil if we do it online.

 

I remember as a kid that the numbers racket was this evil thing the state talked about and they arrested numbers dealers and couldn't stop it until they did their own version (pick 3) and killed it that way.

 

[Julian2]

I remember reading about the Numbers. The numbers runner was almost a part of American inner-city culture at the time.

The Australian equivalent was the SP (starting price) bookmaker who set up business in the front bar of the local pub on race days.

The TAB, legal off course betting, finally wiped them out.

[Steve]

Cops played the numbers. It was harmless as far as they were concerned. Cops also gambled at the bookies as well. Whenever a bookie joint or numbers guy got arrested it was about something else. A rival who paid off the cops wanted the competition stopped sometimes. Cops didn't care back in the day.

All the numbers were was the pick 3 lotto. Depending on the city, you needed an accepted way of getting the 3 numbers that couldn't be corrupted, and was unimpeachable. The various was were the last 3 digits of the DJIA stock average, the last 3 numbers of the final cirucluation number of your city's news paper, that was always on the front page.

My interest in the stock market came from the numbers. My neighborhood used the DJIA final average.