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The Department of Homeland Security has seized the domain of online gambling website bodog.com after the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland unsealed a two-part indictment Monday.
It is the result of data and intelligence gathered during an investigation by the FBI and IRS dating back as far as 2006, which also included the assistance of a former employee. Four persons working for the entertainment company stand accused of conducting an online sports betting business in violation of the Illegal Gambling Business Act as well as engaging in a money laundering conspiracy.
Interestingly, bodog.com is run by Canadian billionaire Calvin Ayre and the domain was purchased through a Canadian registrar. None of the defendants are believed to be US citizens. US authorities never approached the Canadian registrar to enforce the seizure, instead they used .com and .net domain operator VeriSign to alter the "glue" records and take down the website, according to the seizure warrant (PDF) paperwork.
By sidestepping the Canadian registrar, VeriSign sends a worrying message to anyone else with a .com or .net domain, especially if authorities consider these TLDs to be American property. It also raises the question: why do we need SOPA again?
According to the indictment, the accused moved money from several accounts in Canada, England, Malta and Switzerland to the US to pay for advertising firms, including $42 million to an undisclosed media reseller in the US between 2005 and 2008. It's also said that the defendants paid out $100 million in winnings to US gamblers, despite the strict laws regarding certain gambling in the US.
"Sports betting is illegal in Maryland, and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flouting that law simply because they are located outside the country," US attorney Rod Rosenstein said in a statement.
Ayre responded to the allegations on his blog, calling the case an "abuse of the US criminal justice system for the commercial gain of large US corporations." He continued, "It is clear that the online gaming industry is legal under international law and in the case of these documents it is also clear that the rule of law was not allowed to slow down a rush to try to win the war of public opinion."
All four could face extradition to the US if caught by authorities, and if convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison for the money laundering count as well as five years for operating an illegal gambling business.
User Comments: 35
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.com is not really an American domain, .us is an American domain. and .com, .net., .org are logically "international" domains, because they have no country code in them. So it is at least politically incorrect for the US to claim ownership of all .com domain names in such a despotic way. If that gambling money laundering billionaire is indeed a criminal, he should be put to jail, if his site is illegal, it should be taken down, but excuse me, where is the presumption of innocence? Was there a court of jury that settled that this person is a criminal and his web site is illegal and his domain name should not belong to him anymore? Even an arrest warrant is not yet a proof of the person being guilty in a crime. How can private property be taken away from anyone whose guilt has not yet been proven? I'm not a lawyer, but it seems a bit wrong to me!
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what a joke address real issues.....murder...rape....education....slavery....poverty.
..robbery....assault etc...leave the sharing, playing games, recreational drugs etc... alone that is the last of the worlds concern sick of this nanny governments deciding what they think is best. if someone wants to borrow a movie while playing a game of poker getting high and drunk that's there choice. world is in a so called recession how much money have they wasted away on all this...bailing out banks etc...and we pay for it all in taxes..... -
hope some one steps up (anon) and hacks/cracks verisigns business ssl encryption and takes there buisness down..............
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Its called preserving the chain of evidence. A arrest warrant is just that. To "arrest" or stop whatever illegal activity is being performed by whomever. It normally includes any or all operational (I.E> Businesses, websites, little old ladys) involved in the investigation. Verisign took down the website im sure on a court order. The Law is the Law. Borders do figure into it. But most govt. have agreements that allow a review of another countries wants and extradition orders. So ppl screaming about "America the Evil Despot" obviously have no idea how a Legal system works. America had to present paperwork and evidence in order to prove that this guy was doing SOMETHING illegal. Courts outside the US have to review this information and see if it melds/merges or disputes another countries Laws. All these hoops had to be jumped through in order for even a warrant to be issued. So just because you didnt see any proof of guilt, doesnt mean that the courts didnt see any proof. Obviously for any criminal action to be taken some proof had to be laid out for a judge or magistrait to review and agree that a crime has been commited. Guilt or Innocence doesnt factor into the equation
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Guest said:
SO....tell me again why some people want the government more intrusive in our lives? This is getting annoying. Even though it doesn't affect me, I still don't like it.
Go tell it to the Dept. of Homeland Insecurity. The U.S. middle class is failing, the wealthy owners of corporations are getting nervous, congress and the federal courts right up to the Corporate Supremes are thoroughly owned, and as George Carlin noted: "They call it the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."
Or - you weren't blaming it all on the dang lib'rals, were you? Probably not. Your note seemed too temperate. I wonder how many liberals even exist inside the DHS or among grandstanding federal prosecutors and big-money SuperPACs and lobbyists.
This was, as someone said, a corporate move. They own the U.S. government, so if you want to see who directed this particular abuse of power, follow the lobbyist money.
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so the USA is going to arrest any foreigner for breaking a law that does not exist in their country? Sorry but I consider that a preposterous act and disgraceful. If it is such an abhorrent site, force the USA ISPs to block it (let the USA's Internet become China II). But trying to arrest someone for breaking a law in a different country?!?!? No logic at all. No respect for foreign sovereignty at all.
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it means the beginning of the end of .COM addresses.
soon most websites, even perfectly legit commercial ones, will move to other domains. and just like bank accounts, as country after country gives into US pressure, there will be one or two countries who will allow anonymous domain registration.
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There is no legal waiver because 'I didn't know that was against the law' is not a legal defense. If sports gambling is illegal in Maryland, then it's illegal in Maryland. It's not ok just because the website people are using is registered with a different country. This guy is facing 20+ years for running an illegal gambling operation and money laundering. This is not a case of some innocent guy getting his website turned off by the big bad USA govt. He's blaming a 'right wing conspiracy' and you guys are buying it.
Should a website that provides free downloads of movies be allowed if the .COM name is registered in China?
If that's true, then who's laws to we follow? The ones were we live or the one's where the .COM is registered? And prosecuting someone in America for breaking a law from another country is obviously wrong, so what then?
Don't compare us to China... this isn't even close.
Yup, but don't forget Gitmo + illegal (secret) detentions / renditions + assassinations + sponsoring terrorist organizations in other countries..... just to name few which are deemed legal by US to achieve its goals (incidentally US accuse others of these as well), so I don't really see any difference TBH. These are different 'tools' to achieve political ends in line with one's wishes, hence, politics is just not what it is you and I think it is.
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Tygerstrike said:
What surprises me is everyone jumping on the "America is Evil" bandwagon. Problem is that bandwagon aint got no wheels so the argument goes nowhere. If the BILLIONARE in question is indeed performing a money laundrying service, then its illegal. No amount of complaining is going to change the fact that the gentleman in question was doing the money laundering WELL BEFORE any legal action was taken. How about a few slams against the billionare who caused this legal action to be brought against him? Wheres the acknowledgment that what the gentleman did was illegal. I swear!! Half the guest posters have to be incredibly short sited. You read an article, pull out the points you wanna whine about, then raise your pitchforks and torches and turn into an ***** mob.
Thing is, Government IS ''Evil'', there is no other way of saying it.
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