News, Researches rund um Starnet und das I-Gambling II - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[Offi]

Dedicated to RAZ:

Cohen schuldig:

Landmark Conviction in Web Gambling

NEW YORK (AP) - A man who operated a sports betting business on the Internet has been convicted in what is believed to be the first case of its kind to go to trial.

The jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan concluded that Jay Cohen, 33, broke a federal law by accepting bets and wagers on sports events over the Internet and telephone.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said the San Francisco man was the first to stand trial in the United States for running an Internet sports (OTC BB:ISNI.OB - news) gambling site.

Cohen, president of World Sports Exchange in Antigua, was among 22 defendants charged in March 1998 with operating offshore companies that took bets from Americans via the Internet or toll-free telephone numbers. Federal law prohibits the use of the Internet for sports betting and makes it a crime to use interstate telephone lines for gambling. Ten defendants pleaded guilty.

Cohen`s attorney, Ben Brafman, pledged to appeal the verdict. Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced May 23.

Offi

[Mr. Bucket]

Naja, das war ja erstmal zu erwarten...

Für starnet selbs dürfte das weniger negativ sein und für ihre neue Software noch weniger (Countryblocking). (Die schloß´doch auch sportsbetting mit ein oder?) Ansonsten ist im Moment wenig so schnellebig wie die Entwicklung der Internetrechtsprechung.

MfG
Ingmar

[Offi]

Starnet comments on Cohen case:

http://www.snmm.com dann legal facts anklicken!

Offi

[Offi]

Neuer Newsletter:

http://www.starnetc.com/newsletter/investor/issue.html

Viel Spass beim lesen,

Offi

[Offi]

!

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[reimerlue]

Na Offi wenn das mal keine Supernachricht ist.
Der Präzedenzfall schlechthin :-))

Nun werden wie die 10 schneller sehen als gedacht.


Grüße Reimer

[Offi]

!

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[Offi]

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, JUDGE STACK DECK AGAINST ENTREPRENEUR JAY COHEN; RESULTS IN UNFAIR CONVICTION OF LICENSED AND REGULATED ONLINE GAMING OPERATOR

Vancouver, Canada (March 1, 2000) – Following a one-sided trial in which
the defense was denied even minimum standards of fairness and due process,
the United States Justice Department yesterday obtained a conviction of
online entrepreneur Jay Cohen in U.S. district court for violating the 1961
Wire Act.

Sue Schneider, the Chairman of the Interactive Gaming Council, stated: “We
are disappointed that the Justice Department decided to pursue this case,
even though Jay Cohen was operating a licensed and regulated gaming
establishment and causing harm to no one. However, our disappointment is
dwarfed by the Council’s concern about the Orwellian tactics that the
prosecutors used to obtain this conviction. Not only was Mr. Cohen precluded
from offering a substantive defense, the judge in the case would not even
let the jury have a complete or accurate copy of the Wire Act upon which to
base their decision. This type of ‘convict now and find facts later’
prosecution should be troubling for all members of the Internet community.”

Schneider continued: “Cohen’s defense was based upon a reasonable and
literal reading of the criminal code, as well as the fact that he was
licensed and supervised by gaming regulators in the sovereign nation of
Antigua. However, Judge Griesa prevented any hint of such a defense from
being presented to the jury. By putting Cohen in a legal straightjacket, the
judge almost assured the prosecution of a conviction and denied him due
process and other civil rights.. Nevertheless, even with such bias from the
bench, it is clear that, the jury struggled with the fundamental question of
Cohen’s innocence, taking more than two full days to deliberate before
reaching its conclusion.”

During its deliberations, the jury asked for a copy of the Wire Act (18
U.S.C. sec. 1084) to determine whether Cohen’s actions were indeed criminal.
The judge sent to the jury a copy of the statute, but had the provision of
section 1084, which contained a legal defense for Cohen, removed without any
trace. Jurors were not even told that parts of the statute had been removed.
Faced with an incomplete statute – one lacking the defenses approved by
Congress – the jurors had no choice but to convict.

IGC Vice Chairman Albert Angel added: “This case should not be interpreted
as a black mark on the interactive gaming industry as a whole. It is widely
understood in the legal community that nearly four-decade old Wire Act does
not apply to casino-style gaming conducted on the Internet.”

While Cohen’s conviction is extremely troubling, it is based on a law that
applies strictly to sports wagering by telephone and in which there is no
mention of the Internet at all. Had prosecutors attempted to indict licensed
and regulated online casino operators (as opposed to Cohen and World Wide
Sports Exchange), the outcome would have been far different.

“The IGC fully backs Mr. Cohen because we believe he is the victim of a
biased prosecution and trial. . We urge him to appeal this unfair outcome so
that his case does not become a precedent for overzealous prosecutors in the
future,” said Angel.

The Interactive Gaming Council is the global trade association for online
operators, software designers, financial services providers, and publishers.
With more than 80 members in 16 countries, the Council advocates for the
creation of an international regulatory framework that ensures industry
integrity, consumer protection, and the collection ofÿ all appropriate fees
and taxes.

Sue Schneider
[phone]
www.igcouncil.org


Offi

[Offi]

Lesestoff:

Attorney general locks horns with company
ALAN SAYRE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW ORLEANS - A company that wants to telecast casino table games from Monroe to players on the Web is disputing a state attorney general`s opinion that could bar the firm from Louisiana.

Mardi Gras Holding Group Inc. wants to build a television studio where casino-type games with live dealers would be produced and transmitted by satellite to Antigua where it would be put on the Internet.

Wagers would not be taken from states and countries where Internet gambling is illegal - including Louisiana, the company says.

In an opinion issued Feb. 11 to Ouachita Parish District Attorney Jerry Jones, Attorney General Richard Ieyoub said the operation would violate the state`s ban on Internet wagering, passed by the Legislature is 1997.

In a letter to Ieyoub released to the media, the company questions the opinion, which does not carry the force of law, but is usually a standard unless overturned by a court.

``The business is no different than a film or television production facility where employees (or actors, if you will) perform their jobs for a television camera. The signal is then transmitted via satellite to a legally licensed Antigua company just as any Louisiana TV station would transmit news to a major network or CNN,`` the letter said.

Basically, the company contends that since no wagering would be allowed from Louisiana points, it would not be in violation of the state`s anti-Internet gambling law.

But Ieyoub said the law goes beyond actual wagering by consumers and covers anyone who handles any product that is used in Internet wagering, such as the service designed by Mardi Gras Holding Group. Violation of that provision of the law carries up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000, Ieyoub said.

Ieyoub`s opinion also says the state has the right ``to protect its citizens, and particular its youngest citizens, from the pervasive nature of gambling which can occur via the Internet.``

However, the company said that Ieyoub`s position on that issue collided with the U.S. Constitution and pointed out that a 1996 federal law that would have restricted certain Internet activities was thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mardi Gras Holding Group describes itself as consisting of a dozen businessmen from Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and California. The company said it chose Monroe because it contains a federal empowerment zone, a program designed to lure businesses through tax breaks to poorer neighborhoods.

Bob Vernon, the company`s managing director, said representatives met last year with the attorney general`s gaming division before attracting investors and were led to believe their plan was legal.

``Absolutely no wager would be put on any activity in the U.S.,`` Vernon said.

Vernon said a player cannot be sure of the odds on virtual reality software used by other Internet casino sites, and his company would provide the same chance at winning as an actual casino.

The company plans to hire 200 employees initially in the Monroe area and eventually expand to 500, he said. Vernon said he hoped to meet with Ieyoub in the near future to discuss the company`s plan and had no immediate plans to sue.

Congress is now wrangling with Internet betting.

Federal law prohibits the use of the Internet for sports betting. A bill that passed the Senate last year also would make it illegal to bet on casino-style games online.

A companion bill is pending in the House and is the subject of a subcommittee hearing scheduled for March 9.


Vernon said he is trying to have his company`s plan presented to Congress as an alternative to a ban. ``We believe we`re the solution and not the problem,`` he said.


Vernon`s company, which has hired a former FBI agent as its operations director, said it would limit the amount of money a player could lose and would not allow the use of credit cards and ATM cards to wager.

The number of online casinos has mushroomed from 15 in 1996 to more than 700, according to industry research. Revenue to the roughly 200 companies that operate those sites is estimated to reach nearly $1.5 billion this year and $3 billion by 2002, said Sebastian Sinclair, an analyst who performs market research for the online gambling industry.

Offi

[Mr. Bucket]

!

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[Offi]

Interessant:

Antigua Eliminates One of the Taxes on Internet Gaming Operators


Antigua`s Director of Offshore Gaming, Gyneth McAllister, announced Tuesday that her government has abolished the 10 percent import duty on goods "required in the operation of Internet Gaming entities licensed in the jurisdiction.``

Last year, McAllister said in a statement, the government eliminated the 20 percent tax on international calls for Internet gaming companies. These reductions in taxes, she said, are part of an "industry enhancement plan`` for the offshore gaming industry in Antigua and Barbuda.

Other changes in the works, she said, include facilities for processing credit cards on the island. In addition, Cable and Wireless has announced rate reductions for bulk users of telephone service, effective the middle of this month.


Und SNMM ist das beste Pferd im Stall.

Offi

[Offi]

Hi SNMMler

www.starnetnews.com ist aktiv.

Levys neuester Streich!

Für alle die, die nicht wissen wer Levy ist -> ein Psychopath

Offi

[ethues]

ELOT on NASDAQ ELOTery

[artimu]

Hallo Offi,

wenn man die Seite sieht, dann wird einem einiges klar.
Der Levi muß ja wirklich nicht ganz dicht sein. War mir
in dem Ausmaß bisher nicht klar. Erstaunlich, daß sich
eine Firma so etwas gefallen lassen muß.

Grüße

[Offi]

Servus,

SNMM muß sich das nicht gefallen lassen, aber Levy sitzt in Belgien und ist da leider nicht erreichbar. Ich denke das sich diese Aktionen früher oder später rächen werden!

Offi

[RAZ]

!

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[Offi]

Also der Weihnachtsmann kommt auf jeden Fall!

Immer wenn ich im Urlaub bin, oder ganz kurz davor (so 3-4 Std. irgendwann mal im August 1999 ) passiert was mit einer meiner Aktien! Und ich gehe davon aus das wieder was passiert. Bisher war es immer etwas schlechtes! ( Ach so, bei der Levy PR war ich übrigens auch im Urlaub!!!) Es aht mich bei SNMM zwar am härtesten erwischt, aber früher sind schon öfter kuriose Sachen passiert, wenn ich sozusagen offline war.

Und nächste Woche will ich, wenn ich mein Handy anmache nach dem Abendessen gefälligst was geiles lesen, sonst fahre ich nie, nie wieder in Urlaub!

Offi

[Offi]

Lesestoff aus Down Under:

HopOn but watch the rider

By David Crowe

In a business where every investment is a throw of the dice, there is one Australian internet start-up that seems even riskier than the average.
HopOn.com.au, a Sydney company offering free internet access, is hunting for Australian investors with the promise that it could one day raise up to $50 million on the Australian Stock Exchange.

The company`s American chief executive, Peter Michaels, is pitching his business proposal to venture capitalists, investment banks and private individuals at a time when investors are rushing to support new Australian internet floats.

Yet the Australian start-up is not quite as new as it seems. HopOn.com.au and its parent company have a common ownership and management that can be traced back to an internet gambling software developer in California.

The Californian company, World Wide Web Casinos Incorporated, was raided by police and State investigators just last September. Its chief executive and controlling shareholder was Michaels, who now appears to have turned to Australia as a kinder climate for his internet ambitions.
So far, HopOn.com.au and its Sydney parent company, New Discoveries Publishing Pty Ltd, have won solid local support.

In a hectic round of deal-making, the company has cited alliances with the Australian subsidiary of telco heavyweight MCI WorldCom, a 50 per cent stake in a New Zealand building society and a deal to process Visa credit card payments.

Next, Michaels, the chief executive of New Discoveries in Sydney as well as the chief executive of its American parent, NWDP.com, has a public float in mind.
"We would like the people of Australia to participate in our success," he said last week from his office in Sydney. "We`re negotiating with various groups for funding. We`re probably going to raise $30 million to $50 million."

Still, Michaels` history may yet undermine his pitch to Australian investors, with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission now expressing an interest.

But it is the Californian State regulators who have Michaels in their sights, believing he was operating an investment "boiler room" that used telemarketing and internet advertising to sell up to $US20 million in stock in his private internet company to individual investors.

Investigators from the Californian Department of Corporations, joined by federal police, searched the offices of World Wide Web Casinos Incorporated and removed six computers and 50 boxes of company records on September 15, 1999.

There is nothing unusual about raising private capital, but investigators believe the company breached securities laws that ban the sale of shares in private companies to ordinary householders, who are usually persuaded to part with their savings over the telephone.
The department has not laid any charges, although it said last week that it was actively pursuing the investigation.
"We are concerned that the main enterprise may have been selling stock to the public," said Marc Crandall, lead counsel for internet compliance at the Californian Department of Corporations.

As the internet spurs the rise of new companies with untested ideas, Californian authorities have witnessed the spread of casino software companies that raise funds from novice investors and are usually listed on the over-the-counter bulletin boards that represent the lower rungs of the American sharemarket.

Because online gambling remains illegal in the United States, gambling software companies usually have ties to online casinos that are licensed in the Caribbean or the Pacific Islands, although some are shifting to Australia following legislation that approves online gambling.

Michaels denied suggestions that he had operated a boiler room to sell stocks in World Wide Web Casinos.

"That wasn`t true," he said last week by telephone from Sydney. "We were a gaming company, and a lot of gaming companies are raided in America. They never found anything wrong."

Asked if he was aware that the investigation was still under way, he said: "It`s my understanding that they haven`t found anything."

But Californian investigators are not the only ones unhappy with Michaels and World Wide Web Casinos. In a cautionary tale for Australian investors, a group of forlorn American shareholders have followed Michaels with growing frustration over the past six years, all but writing off their investments in World Wide Web Casinos and its successor, NWDP.com.

Richard Pulcrano, a private investor in West Virginia, poured some of his savings into World Wide Web Casinos in 1994 after a family friend put his name forward to Michaels.

The initial contact led to a series of telemarketing calls. By the time he called a halt, Pulcrano had staked $US130,000 on World Wide Web Casinos.

Another individual is believed to have invested $US600,000 after mortgaging his home.

Shareholders estimate there were 800 investors in World Wide Web Casinos and that the company raised up to $US20 million.

"I feel the investment has been a total loss," said Pulcrano.

Others are far more harsh: "We`ve been, excuse the expression, screwed all the way around," said one American investor, who requested anonymity.

But what has this to do with a small Sydney internet outfit? The answer can be found in a Californian court. In a lawsuit filed on behalf of American shareholders, a Los Angeles lawyer named John Zarian sought to recover funds for shareholders who were worried about the company`s financial performance, but had no way to sell their stock in World Wide Web Casinos.

After all, the company`s stock was not traded on an open market. In a settlement in March 1999, the parties agreed that shareholders would trade their stock in World Wide Web Casinos for shares in a new company run by Michaels called New Discoveries Publishing Corporation, headquartered in Nevada and listed on the American over-the-counter bulletin board under the ticker symbol NWDP or NWDPE.

Shareholders wanted fully registered stock that they could sell immediately, but received restricted stock that they cannot sell until June 2000.

As a result, they could only watch in dismay as the share price of New Discoveries tumbled from $US10 last March to about $US1 by October, prompting fury on internet message boards such as Raging Bull and Silicon Investor.

"Peter Michaels has not, by and large, kept his promises to shareholders in World Wide Web Casinos," Zarian said from Los Angeles last week. "New investors should review any venture with great caution, given the background."

Michaels, though, said the shareholder lawsuit was an attempt to take over his company. "All they were trying to do was extort stock and play games," he said.

The restriction on the stock, he said, was standard practice under US securities regulations and had been part of the court settlement.

It was not the only lawsuit. A Canadian company called Rangestar Telecommunications of Vancouver sued World Wide Web Casinos for $US6 million in June 1998 after negotiations on a business alliance foundered.

The president of the Canadian company at the time, Edward Gallagher, who had been a Canadian policeman for 21 years, said he had no doubt the Los Angeles company was telemarketing stock to investors. "Everybody knew it," he said. "I saw the boiler room."

The American shareholders, tied to a company that was originally a gambling software developer in Los Angeles, now have everything riding on Michaels` plans for a free internet service in Australia.

New Discoveries of Nevada, since renamed NWDP.com, is the parent of Sydney company New Discoveries Publishing Pty Ltd.

Michaels is the chief executive of NWDP.com and is a director of New Discoveries Publishing Pty Ltd, which in turn operates HopOn.com.au as a registered business name.

Its rapid deal-making has left American shareholders wondering where it is headed: casinos, electronic commerce or free internet services?

Seeking a friendlier climate for internet gambling, Michaels began his Australian activities by applying to Norfolk Island`s gaming authority early in 1999 for a licence to operate blackjack, roulette and virtual slot machines from a site called www.webcasinos.com.

By September, New Discoveries had expanded to electronic commerce, announcing a pre-paid travel card using Visa`s TravelMoney format to access funds in 531,000 Visa ATMs in 120 countries.

The card`s issuer was a New Zealand building society called IBIS, which was 50 per cent owned by New Discoveries.

The system`s first user was an online casino called Net Pirates, an operation launched by Michaels in California but later licensed by New Discoveries Publishing to a Sydney company called Australian Media Company Pty Ltd.

In just one example of the complicated arrangements between casino software developers and internet casino operators, a search of company records at ASIC shows that Australian Media Company has a sole shareholder: Peter Daniel Michaels, 36, of Kent Street in Sydney.

Now, though, New Discoveries appears to want to shift its focus. Last October, it announced a plan to offer free internet access under the name Comeonaussie.com.au, later taking the name HopOn.com.au.

On February 14, New Discoveries announced a service contract with MCI WorldCom`s UUNet subsidiary in Australia under which UUNet will provide all internet access, hosting and support services to customers of HopOn.com.au.

The service is a "virtual ISP" in which all the underlying technology will be run by UUNet.

"We`re not in the gaming industry anymore," Michaels said last week. "We`re in the free internet service provider business, the e-commerce business."

New Discoveries now talks of selling off the division responsible for online gaming. "We have a couple of people that want to buy it," Michaels said.

He said the company had sold back its 50 per cent interest in the IBIS building society in New Zealand.

. By mid-February, the development of HopOn.com.au had proceeded far enough for Michaels to tell journalists of his plans for a float.

The company now appears to be doing the rounds among Australian technology investors.

One Sydney venture capitalist said he had received a proposal from HopOn.com.au, though he rejected it because he considered the business model for free internet services to be unattractive.

There is no suggestion that the development of internet gambling software in Australia is illegal or improper, nor that New Discoveries or its related companies have breached any Australian regulations.

Even so, the background of HopOn.com.au, traced back to a State investigation and a series of financial disputes in California, should caution investors who might be considering an investment in the company.

A public affairs officer at ASIC said the commission had received a complaint about New Discoveries from an American investor and had been in touch with Californian regulators.

"We have a number of concerns about this company and we have a watching brief on them," she said.

In the US, where investors complain that they cannot gain access to any financial reports by New Discoveries or NWDP.com, the stockmarket chat rooms are busy with speculation over New Discoveries and its Australian plans.

New Discoveries is pushing ahead with plans to raise funds and turn the Australian company into a partly owned subsidiary of NWDP.com.

"We`re looking at doing something right away," Michaels said.

Still, the success of those plans might hang on an investigation in Los Angeles.

"We`re investigating very carefully," said Crandall of the Californian Department of Corporations. "We`re very concerned about the activities in Australia."

[runaway2]

Tagchen !

Wollte nur kurz sagen, dass Worldracetracks online ist !!!

Ein weiterer Schritt in die richtige Richtung .......


Gruß


runaway2