Another Online Gambling Exec Held; US Gov't Out of Real Problems

What the hell is wrong with the federal government? Reuters reports that authorities have just picked up Peter Dicks, the head of England-based online gambling site Sportingbet. Needless to say, the site is legal in the country(ies) in which its based.

This mirrors the arrest of BetOnSports CEO Howard Carruthers in July, a move that led Jacob Sullum to write:

If an executive of a U.S. media company were arrested in Beijing for violating a Chinese law against "subversive" online speech, or in Tehran for creating "indecent" Web content viewed by Iranians, Americans would ask what right these countries have to impose their illiberal policies on us. Sadly, our government is giving people in other countries good cause to wonder the same thing about the United States.

Sullum's whole column is here.

Comments

[Lamar]

Does this action have any effect on online sports gambling, or is it just Bush making an international ass out of the US again?

[Pete Rose]

Stick 'em in the slammer and throw away the key!

[Pi Guy]

There's probably a couple billion in the hopper somewhere to start a War on Gambling. Let's see:
- War on Drugs: US gov lost long ago but continues to stay the course
- War on Terror: US gov getting ass handed to them in a sling but continues to stay the course
- War on Gambling: Hey - it's about the kids!

When gambling is a crime then only criminals will gamble. Oh, wait...

[Aresen]

"If an executive of a U.S. media company were arrested in Beijing for violating a Chinese law against "subversive" online speech, or in Tehran for creating "indecent" Web content viewed by Iranians..."

Imagine Janet Jackson or Madonna being arrested in Tehran for "public indecency."

IT'S A TWOFER!

[Brian]

Some confluence of fundies, injuns, and the casino lobby is at work here.

[Lowdog]

Brian - yup, someone's losing money to these on-line sites and are pissed.

I hate the people in our government. Corrupt and stupid appears to be the case more and more.

[Aresen]

Lamar

I doubt President Bush had anything to do with it. More likely some lobbyist pushed a congressman who then pushed a bureaucrat into "getting the bad guy". Alternatively, the prosecutor may be trying to make a name for himself.

These sort of things just don't make it to the inbasket for any President.

[Lamar]

I can accept that argument. I didn't mean Bush ordered the hit, er, arrest. I meant that Bush pushed a get tough policy that led to absurd results, but I don't have any support for even this assertion. Point taken.

[c]

Somewhere there is a gambling-obsessed fundie preacher (Daddy left momma to play the ponies) who is getting his (political) chits cashed in right now. The puritans are making us all suffer.

[crimethink]

Assuming this exec was arrested in the US, the old maxim applies: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. If Roman Polanski can manage to avoid stopping over in the US, why can't online gambling executives, who know that the US authorities are gung-ho about nabbing them.

I'm not considering the question of whether this law is stupid. That makes no difference. Perfect enforcement of the laws should be the goal, especially in a democracy, as it will cut down on the number of laws in general, and stupid laws in particular.

[Slainte']

Oh, c'mon. No one has any jokes about the name 'Peter Dicks'?

[Slainte']

Oh, c'mon. No one has any jokes about the name 'Peter Dicks'?

[jtuf]

I agree with crimethink. The law is absurd and needs changing. The arrest is the biproduct.

[Shawn Smith]

<offtopic>

Slainte',

My wife's ex husband's first name and middle initial is Philip and K. When she first heard about Philip K. Dick, the SF author, she and her mom thought that was too funny.

</offtopic>

[brec]

The arrest was on a Louisiana warrant, according to the Reuters story.

[Deus ex Machina]

Great to know where their priorities are. They can't supply power to 40% of the city nearly a year after Katrina but God forbid if someone places a bet on the Saints.

[Elliot Spitzer]

Alternatively, the prosecutor may be trying to make a name for himself.

Now that's ridiculous.