Feds Plan To Temporarily Turn Poker Sites Back On So People Can Get Their Money Out
from the didn't-want-a-poker-player-revolt dept
When the feds seized three poker domains, one of the big concerns was if players would be able to get back their money. When the initial questions were raised, the Justice Department made some statements about how they didn't want people to be able to claim money that was obtained through illegal means -- suggesting that players would not be able to get their money back. However, it appears that someone let those in power know that there are a lot of people who play online poker... and they vote. So, suddenly, the government has agreed to reactivate two of the seized domains to help players retrieve their money. They're spinning the story to suggest people have "always" been able to reclaim their money, but many players say that was not the case at all, and they were completely frozen out of their accounts.
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Filed Under: legality, online poker, poker
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That's a pity...
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Re: That's a pity...
I am surprised to see this much reason from the feds, though it never should have got to this point to begin with.
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Re: Re: That's a pity...
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Re: Re: Re: That's a pity...
Even assuming you are correct, are you seriously claiming that customers should be punished for completely unrelated actions of the businesses?
If so then anyone who has used viagra needs to be whipped, because pretty much everyone gets tons of spam for that all the time.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: That's a pity...
With (cough, snort, giggle) what?
Why aren't you players signed up with someplace that provides a nice VPN so it looks like you're in Denmark or some country where vice is usually serviced reasonably? And if you don't have an offshore bank account after everything that American banks have done to you, well, you should be whipped in the face with a viagra punisher. Try Iceland, we'll happily accept your accounts ;)
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Re: Re: Re: That's a pity...
So, what should their punishment be?
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Re: That's a pity...
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The spin is a lie
Personally, I really don't want the cash back. I just want it in an account that I can use to play poker online from time to time. I will figure out a way to work around this, as will most other savvy consumers, just like Canadians who have figured out ways to get DirecTV service.
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INDIAN RESERVATIONS
This way society is much better off as a whole.
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So very hypocritical.
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feds
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Though Techdirt readers should know what a domain seizure does and does not accomplish, many online poker players are not generally Internet-savvy; neither are many news sources: the commonly reported story said that the FBI had “shut down” these online poker sites, when of course the client software (which connects via numeric IP address and doesn’t require DNS) was unaffected. New domains were up in days.
The sites themselves, not the FBI, chose to block real-money play by Americans. Since the DOJ placed restraining orders against various accounts used for payment processing, it’s not hard to guess what’s holding up cashouts.
PokerStars has a United States Players FAQ that says something about cashouts:What I have to wonder is whether the US government will be watching the payouts... Prosecuting individuals for playing poker online would be a can of worms the DOJ probably wouldn’t want to open, but the IRS might be interested in names and account numbers of citizens who seem to have a lot of money coming back.
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FullTilt Poker's FAQ
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duh
This is just the 1st step to bleeding off the existing market share of the current players.
Next, congress will make online poker legal, but you must use state/federally approved services.
Those services will be provided by the large lobbying casino firms that are currently behind in the game.
In return for the gift of killing the existing businesses uncle sam will be rewarded with campaign contributions and any and all other kickbacks under then sun. Wink wink, nudge nudge, thanks for helping your buddy out!
that is all.
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Bovada needs to be shut down
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re
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other
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