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Today's Numbers: 17 42 69 ^H ^H ^H
Gannoc writes "An
article at MSNBC tells of the internet gambling ban heading to the house floor. The interesting part of this article explains that American ISPs will be required to block access to all Internet gambling sites, from lists provided to them by American law enforcement agencies. Does this set a dangerous precident for free speech on the internet?" Well, as I read it the bill, only the ISP hosting the site would be required to take it down, no ISP would have a general duty to block access. It's still very similar to Australian censorship laws passed last year, especially in its DMCA-like requirement that the censorship must occur immediately when the notice is received, before any court hearing, which is unconstitutional prior restraint of speech. My question is simple: what's the difference between illegal gambling and state-sanctioned lotteries?
Why do our elected officials feel it is necessary to pass laws which protect us from ourself? If someone wants to gamble away their money, that is their choice, and the only one they are potentially hurting is themself. Everybody knows that the advantage is towards the casino, and yet they make the decision to spend their money on gambling anyways, they enjoy the experience of gambling. I enjoy the experience of going to the movies, and I always leave the movie theatre with less money than I went in with. Should the government ban movies because they are clearly taking money from the public? No, the government should let the public make their own decisions on what form of entertainment they will spend their money on. Traditionally if I wanted to gamble, I would have to take a bus of a plane or drive to Vegas (or Atlantic City, or an indian reservation), the internet makes it more convenient. Gambling on the internet doesn't make it possible for me to do something I would otherwise be unable to do, it makes it more convenient for me to do it, which is a good thing.
Heh well whats the difference between state sanctioned lotto and gambling? Well the exact same difference between maffia "protection rackets" and taxation.
ie...its "State Sanctioned".
The government just hates it when private citizens try to "muscle in" on their "turf" you know.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
speaking of tax, lottery is more like a voluntary tax for specific purposes like education for those who are more inclined to ignore mathematical probability in pursue of a dream (I don't like to think lottery as a tax for the mathematically disinclined, as one joke goes, because my own grandparents enjoyed purchasing lottery tickets and they kind of do it just for fun)
I guess more than anything, gambling is usually illegal because of two things: Cheating and scams that swindles people out of a lot of money, and taxable gambling income. How many people actually honestly report gambling income? The government would want a piece of that action, I'm sure. With Internet-based gambling, the cheating and swindling would be on a larger scale, more easily perpetrated, and harder to trace (in some cases). Where would the taxes be collected?
If the government can figure out a way to easily account for and tax gambling nicome and losses, then the government will legalize it all, IMHO.
1) When the state does it, it's called lotto; when the mob runs the exact same game, it's called the numbers racket (yes, it's the same game. I knew a former courier who told of them using the police band to show the game was fair--they used the numbers of squad cars being called out as their numbers . . .)
2) the mob would be embarassed to only return 50%
FWIW, I'm not an American, I reside north of the border. But, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. What is it with the american psyche that demands everything be banned? Why go after the ISP? They didn't do anything. It's the guy that's actually doing the gaming that's breaking the laws, so go after him! It's laws like this that are dangerous because they don't go after the criminal, they attempt to change everyone's behaviour to _prevent_ something that you shouldn't be doing. "Speeding is illegal, so let's ban freeways!" "Armed robbery is illegal, so let's take everyone's guns!" (Big fight here in Canada about this now.. under new policy, the government will be allowed into any residence to check that a registered weapon is safely stored, by law, ack!)
It seems the answer to everything these days is to ban/censor/deem unfit whatever is unpaletable to a select minority in the congress. So, let's ban everything, give the police absolute arbitrary power (well, they almost have it now) and everything will be A-Ok!
In the day of state-sancioned casino gaming and lotteries, this seems ridiculous! What's next? Banning vacations to countries who make lots of money on gaming? Let's revoke those passports now! What's the difference between going to the carribean and blowing your dollars there, and blowing them via an online route? (Obviously, you're under the laws of the US in the latter case, but from a moral standpoint, is it any different?)
Yeeeesh
..don't panic