By J. DeVoy
Fresh on the heels of D.C.’ s decision to pursue legal online gambling, the DOJ indicted a number of gambling websites today, including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. (source.)
The L.A. Times observes that this happened only after the online gambling business had taken off and become an economic success. (source.) Much like the government’s efforts to stop private groups from making a profit through IP infringement – and keep the damages for themselves, depriving IP holders of a chance to recoup their losses – which have been widely discussed, this looks like another case of the government getting involved to push out competition for their own endeavors. If the state is going to be administering, sanctioning and aggressively taxing gambling, the last thing it wants is competition.
