New at Reason

David Weigel | February 7, 2007

Jacob Sullum asks why a couple of internet pioneers are having the book thrown at them.

Comments

Dan T.|2.7.07 @ 9:39AM|#

Mr. Sullum's article appears to me to be saying that, yes, Neteller does in fact aid people in participating in illegal activity, but since a lot of people engage in this particular activity and because Neteller makes no bones about it, the company shouldn't be investigated by law enforcement. Or something like that.

And as is par for the course, Mr. Sullum reminds us for the 20,000th time that anybody concerned with the harmful effects of gambling really just wants to keep you from having innocent fun.

|2.7.07 @ 9:49AM|#

Shame, shame someone forgot to make sure Uncle Sugar was getting his cut of the action.

Think they were going to let their gambling lobbiest get screwed because they missed the initial boat on internet gambling? Hardly, just wait online gambling will be legal as soon as the domestic casinos that have been paying off the pols for years get caught up write software and open their own online casinos which the gov will then regulate for us. Well for us and the children, I only say that because the casinos, lottery and video poker brought to my state were all for the children when proposed, no shit.

Still our schools rank lowest which makes sense because anyone who can calculate simple odds knows gambling in a casino is a money losing venture most times out.

So it will come back just wait till Uncle Sugar Super Nanny has figured it out for you.

ed|2.7.07 @ 10:04AM|#

for the 20,000th time...

Dan posts a contrarian view just for the hell of it. (yawn) zzzzzzzzzz........

Dan T.|2.7.07 @ 10:09AM|#

That's not really a "contrarian view" - all the Reason writers ridicule the idea that gambling might be harmful on a societial level. I'd bet every piece Mr. Sullum has done on gambling features such an element.

That's the Reason way, it seems. No opponent of libertarian positions has a legitimate point. They're just stupid or are obsessed with making your life worse.

Rhywun|2.7.07 @ 10:37AM|#

all the Reason writers ridicule the idea that gambling might be harmful on a societial level

No, what's ridiculous is that the State feels the need to crack down on it with the full force of the legal system, while *simultaneously* encouraging the same behavior via its own system under another name ("lottery"). A libertarian is perfectly free to believe that gambling is harmful while also believing it's none of the State's business.

|2.7.07 @ 10:42AM|#

Dan T,

You just parrotted one of the more popular arguments used in favor of outlawing homosexual activity.

Congratulations.

Dan T.|2.7.07 @ 11:06AM|#

No, what's ridiculous is that the State feels the need to crack down on it with the full force of the legal system, while *simultaneously* encouraging the same behavior via its own system under another name ("lottery"). A libertarian is perfectly free to believe that gambling is harmful while also believing it's none of the State's business.

I do agree that the State should not be in the gambling business.

Dan T.|2.7.07 @ 11:09AM|#

Dan T,

You just parrotted one of the more popular arguments used in favor of outlawing homosexual activity.

Congratulations.

Eh, so? A lot of arguments have similar structure when the details are removed.

|2.7.07 @ 11:29AM|#

I *was* a winning, tax-paying, adult online poker player who used neteller to move funds around. As of now, the funds of thousands of players like myself have been unavailable for withdrawl from Neteller since the arrests, easily reaching into the $M's. I do not know if Neteller is overwhelmed by cashouts it cannot process (the original story), if the funds have been seized by the gvmt (see USA Today story quoting FBI agent from Monday), or, in any case, if I will ever see my money again. Regardless, our public servants have their foot squarely on my crotch for the sin of participating in a nonviolent activity with other consenting adults.

|2.7.07 @ 1:02PM|#

Dan T: How is gambling harmful on a societal level? You said that a lot of arguments are similar if you remove the details, but you haven't given any details. We should face it that gambling is illegal for Judeo-Christian reasons.

|2.7.07 @ 1:40PM|#

As I'm sure some here do, I play a good amount of online poker. With these arrests, they've completely shut down the entire money transfer industry. All Neteller's competitors are hightailing it out and anyone with an open account is left high and dry. Neteller has frozen all US player accounts. So we're not getting that money back for quite a while...

Already on poker community boards "favor trading" has cropped up, which while an inventive way to circumvent a problem, is also ripe for abuse. Glad to see the government once again declaring something illegal, watching a black market arise around it, then declare the scams and/or violence surrounding the black market as one of the reasons that that particular activity needed to be made illegal in the first place.