GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 9 - June 2009

PRWebstopsacceptingonlinegamblingclients U.S.Representatives introduceonlinegambling legislation Webmaster News QUOTABLES WEBMASTERNEWS “I’m going to be pushing it.” —U.S.RepresentativeBarneyFrank (D-MA) onpassing legislation to repeal theUIGEA. “I don’t think online gambling is to be encouraged if people are making a mortgage application, in particular if there are regular amounts going out.” —MichaelDowling, spokesman for Ireland’s IndependentMortgages AdvisersFederation. “Illegal sports gambling across state and international borders by telephone or (the) Internet is a crime. Misuse of the Internet to violate the law can ultimately only serve to harm legitimate businesses.” —U.S. AttorneyCatherineL.Hanaway after formerBetOnSportsCEODavid Carruthers (above) pledguilty to racketeering conspiracy. I n an unexpected move, the press release dis- tribution site PRWeb abruptly decided in April to stop accepting press re- leases thatdealwithonline gambling. PRWeb had been one of the largest press release distribu- tors for the online gambling industry, with clients including UltimateBet, PaddyPower andFull Tilt. There are no plans for the company to accept online gambling press releases in the future, according to Vocus salesman Rod Harris. Thecompany’ssistersite in theU.K. isalso follow- ing the company’s new policy. “From what I’m hearing they’regoingwith it,”he said. “It’s awrap.We have PRWe- bUKand they’re falling in line with thesamerule.” PRWeb is based in the U.S. in the state of Washington, whichhas someof the tough- est anti-gambling laws in the country. Residents who play poker online or place wagers onlineonanythingexcepton- line horse-race wagering are committing a Class C felony. It is not knownwhat led up to the change or if the com- pany was ordered by the state’s government to stop distributingonlinegambling press releases. Harris said that PRWeb’s de- cision tookhimbysurprise. “As far as my level, one day we’re issuing them. Then we get this e-mail. Imyself know anonlinegamblingclientIwas hoping tosignup,”hesaid. PRWebsays that theirservice has been used by more than 40,000organizations. The company still has ar- chived online gambling press releases on itsWeb site, with the lastonepostedonApril14 fromCelebPoker.PRWebsays thatall releasesremainonline untilauserdeletes them. Vocus, theparent companyof PRWeb, is based in Lanham, Maryland. It is publicly trad- edonNASDAQ andprovides Web-based software for cor- porate communications and public relations. It acquired the privately-held PRWeb in August2006. R eps. Barney Frank (D- Mass.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) introduced legislation last month that, if passed, would create a regu- latory framework for online gambling in theUnitedStates. “Internet gambling in the United States should be controlled by a strict federal li- censing and regula- tory framework to protect underage and otherwise vulnerable individuals, to ensure the games are fair, to address the concerns of law enforcement, and toenforceany lim- itations on the activ- ity established by the states and Indian tribes,” the 48-pagebill reads. Thebill,whichcallsontheTrea- suryDepartment toregulate the industry, is careful about mak- ing sure individual states and NativeAmerican tribeshave the right to impose further restric- tionson Internetgamblingor to ban itoutright. A licensing systemmust “adopt and implement systems to en- force any applicable federal, state, and Indian tribe limita- tions,”readsonepartof thebill. Inorder for anoperator toob- tain a license in the U.S., they would have to demonstrate they had a plan to, among other things, “protect under- ageandproblemgamblers, en- sure games arebeingoperated fairlyand complywithandad- dress the concerns of law en- forcement.” All operators would have to pass a background check. And if granted the standard five- year license, they would have to make sure all players were of legal age and allowed to wager from their location, col- lect customer taxes, pay any of their own taxes, safeguard against financial crime, imple- ment safeguards for problem gamblers, implement privacy safeguardsandmeet anyother requirements theTreasuryDe- partmentmight ask for. The legislation also clearly spells out that sports betting on the Internet is illegal.