GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 9 - June 2009

65 is citing a section of theWire Act that re- quires only “common carriers” to comply with government requests to block ser- vices. And that’swhereAGEDwill likelyrun into trouble, saidJohnMorris, general counsel for the Center for Democracy and Tech- nology inWashington. “The term common carrier is a specific legal term, and ISPs aren’t common carri- ers,”Morris told theGPWA. “Even though local telephone companies are common carriers, and even though they have an- other line of business to provide ISP ser- vices, you can’t just say a regulation that applies to common carriers applies to other aspects of the business a common carriermight have.” Morris also said the problemsMinnesota’s casegobeyond thecommoncarrier issues. “Even if you got over the common carrier problemandmagicallyedited thosewords out of the statute and replaced themwith ISP, even if you hypothesized that, what Minnesota is doing still fails, because it fundamentallymisinterprets the statute. “Thestatute isdesigned tostopacommon carrier fromprovidinga specific service to someone running a gambling operation, like providing a phone line to gambling operation. It presumes a subscriber rela- tionshipbetween the common carrier and theperson running thegambling service. “That’s not at all present here. The ISPs have no relationship with the gambling entity.” The legal underpinnings of Minnesota’s effort from a gambling law standpoint aren’t necessarily that cut and dry either, says gaming lawattorneyClarkeWalton. “They’re probably not within their rights basedondecisions thathavesaid theWire Act applies only to sports betting andnot other casinogames like slotmachinesand certainly not poker,” saidWalton, who is based inLasVegas. The Poker Player’s Alliance also issued a vehement challenge to the legality of AGED’s actions. “This isn’t simply a heavy-handed tactic by the government,” said Matt Werden, theMinnesota state director of the Poker PlayersAlliance. “This isaclearmisrepre- sentationof federal law, aswell asMinne- sota law, used inanunprecedentedway to try and censor the Internet. I don’t know what U.S. Code they’re reading, but it is not illegal toplay thisgreatAmericanpas- timeonline, andwe’re calling theirbluff. “The fact is, online poker is not illegal, it’s not criminal, and it cannot be forc- ibly blocked by a state authority looking to score some political points. What are theygoing todowhen this fails, banpoker books andburnourplayers at the stake?”