In breaking news out of Minnesota, the Department of Public Safety's Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division has sent letters to 11 of the world's largest internet service providers (ISPs) withdrawing an earlier mandate to block 200 domain names. Those at risk included Bodog and Full Tilt Poker, which were among a handful of rooms on the list that accept customers from the United States. On Monday, the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) also withdrew its civil court case against Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division Director John Willems. In total, a crisis seems to have been averted in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.PocketFives has an exclusive offer for readers in Germany in April. Get a free copy of Hold'em Manager 2 Pro, a $99 value, and a month of poker training. Click here for details.
Last Thursday night, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the major lobbying force for the poker industry, declared victory in Minnesota. However, its success was questioned by iMEGA, which revealed that no official agreement had been reached. However, on Monday, the trade organization withdrew its court case and distributed a copy of the letter sent to ISPs by the Department of Public Safety. It's authored by Willems and reads in part, "I believe it may be more appropriate to resolve this problem by working to create clear and effective governmental policies concerning regulation of gambling. Although I do not anticipate sending similar notice letters in the future, I do remain committed to resolving the problem of online gambling."The letter's text was finalized after an exchange between iMEGA and the Department of Public Safety. It concludes, "I hope that going forward we will be able to find common ground in working to improve public safety." A copy was sent to Charter, Comcast, Direct TV, Dish Network, Embarq, Qwest, Sprint/Nextel, Verizon, Frontier, AT&T, and Wildblue Communications. On April 24th, the original notices sent to each ISP called for the complete blockage of 200 internet gambling domain names by Minnesota residents. Bodog's casino arm was targeted (and listed as BoDog), as were Full Tilt Poker and the Cake Poker Network site Players Only.
However, the list of 200 curiously also called out a bevy of sites that do not accept players from the United States. Those on this list included Action Poker (the flagship site of the Action Poker Network), BetFred (iPoker), Betway (Microgaming), CD Poker (iPoker), GNUF (Microgaming), Hollywood Poker (Ongame), MansionPoker (iPoker), and Titan Poker (iPoker). Perhaps the two most visible sites on the list were Everest Poker, whose logos PocketFivers playing in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Rio will notice in the middle of each table, and Party Casino, which is owned by the same parent company as PartyPoker. In fact, Party Gaming signed a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Government in April. Last December, one of its co-founders, Anurag Dikshit, admitted to violating the Wire Act of 1961 and faces up to two years behind bars.The PPA distributed a press release on Thursday noting that Minnesota State Representative Pat Garofalo withdrew a bill that would have prevented the censorship of the 200 sites from being enforced. However, iMEGA quickly posted a statement of its own that read, "While we cannot speak to whatever information other organizations or officials are basing their own public statements, it is the position of iMEGA, the Minnesota Attorney General, and the Department of Public Safety that no settlement agreement exists at this time and that statements of other parties outside of the negotiation are speculative and premature."
iMEGA filed a lawsuit against Willems charging that the Department of Public Safety did not have jurisdiction to authorize blocking domains under the Wire Act. In addition, despite the Department of Public Safety threatening to take the ISPs to the Federal Communications Commission, iMEGA noted that "ISPs that provide broadband Internet service are not common carriers subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission." iMEGA also charged that First Amendment rights were violated, as was the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. The lawsuit was filed on May 6th and an agreement was reached on May 26th to allow Willems two additional weeks to file a response brief.
However, iMEGA's suit was withdrawn "without prejudice," meaning that it can be re-filed within a year. The iMEGA dismissal notice explains, "Plaintiff expressly reserves its right to seek declaratory and injunctive relief if Defendant in the future sends similar letters to Internet Service Providers or repeats his challenged actions in any other fashion."
In the meantime, iMEGA will turn its attention to Kentucky, where the state's Justice and Public Safety Cabinet has pushed for the seizure and potential forfeiture of 141 internet gambling domain names, including those belonging to PokerStars, Doyle's Room, and Cake Poker. iMEGA is two weeks removed from filing its brief to the Kentucky Supreme Court. The State is in the process of submitting a response brief after a January decision by the Kentucky Court of Appeals in Louisville (pictured at left) saw a three judge panel conclude that the Commonwealth did not have jurisdiction to act. If successful, the 141 internet gambling domain names would be inaccessible not just in Kentucky, but also around the world.Stay tuned to PocketFives.com for the latest from the PPA and iMEGA. Visit the Poker Legislation Forum for more information.
