Poker domain seizures involved complex criminal activity specifically targeted at the United States.
Yesterday the online gambling world was rocked by the seizure of five poker domain names used by three large online poker companies.
The domain names were seized by the FBI from PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker. According to Compete.com, FullTiltPoker.com gets around 1 million unique visitors a month.
Some people are drawing references to the Kentucky gambling domain seizures and recent seizures from ICE Homeland Security Investigations.
I think drawing parallels here is a mistake. This case is completely different.
At issue isn’t that these companies operated online businesses outside the U.S. that are illegal in the U.S. It’s more than that. The government alleges that the companies:
1. Tricked banks into processing gambling payment transactions by making them think they were e-commerce payments for other goods
2. Invested in struggling banks to get them to illegally process gambling payments
Indeed, if you run an online gambling site and didn’t do any of the above, the U.S. government isn’t targeting you nor your domain names. Even if they are on .com, which is managed by the U.S.-based registry VeriSign.
Should the domain names that were used to run a criminal enterprise specifically targeting the U.S. have been seized? Well, if you get caught bringing drugs into the U.S. on a boat, both your drugs and the boat used to commit the crime will be seized.
Now let’s switch gears to another question: if you’re running a questionable site should you go with a country code domain name with a different jurisdiction?
Well, is what you’re doing legal in the country that the ccTLD belongs to?
For example, you don’t want to run a porn or gambling site on a UAE domain.
Also ask yourself if the country is stable and if it has a history of not changing its domain name policies on a whim.
It’s also worth noting that a number of ccTLDs are managed by registries based in the United States. It might be harder to avoid jurisdiction than you think.
I think the ICE comparison is more than fair.
The ICE seizures were also of domains used to (allegedly) commit crimes in the US.
The crimes were different, sure, but they were still crimes.
Many of the ICE seizures were of domains clearly targeting the US market, nfljerseysupply.com, for example.
I’m not sure I understand why do you think that the ICE operation is “completely different” to this poker case?
@ Kevin,
Agree with your line of thinking. I also think in the ICE seizures the capture of the domain name was the primary mechanism to shut it down, whereas in the poker cases it was tangential to freezing the bank accounts. Let me know if I have this info wrong.
I’d also say financial crimes are bigger than trademark/copyright crimes. But some would equate them.
pokerstars.eu now the default domain name 🙂 Good choice. And who said .eu domains are dead? 😉
Failed logic. Prior bad behavior is not a license for future bad behavior. Seizure without a conviction is unconstitutional, and should always be challenged.
This is more the action of quote ‘jack booted thugs’. There isn’t a conviction, so now in the US it’s guilty before proven innocent. The *.com market is very unstable and frankly most business should brand a differnet domain name, like an *.eu.
With these pokers sites it’s basically that the government wants their business. Harrahs wants in on the US online poker market. Let’s see in a month what the real plan is. Calls for Internet poker run by the state and Obama/Reid friendly donors.
What about BetOnSports.com Sure, they are in a different class being a sportsbook, but didn’t the fed’s seize their domain too? As far as I know, it was only on the basis they were accepting bets from U.S. citizens. But I guess – apparently – in order to do that, tricking banks (or bribing them) is a necessity. I do find it interesting that banks could be tricked into processing billions in golf ball and flower transactions. Come on…golf balls and flowers….really????? I hope you’re right not to worry, ‘cuz I’ve got a stake in it.
What if you LEASE a domain to someone…who then does questionable things on the site?
Will your domain be confiscated-even if you put language in the lease agreement specifically barring such activity?
The US shut down assets of legitimate foreign companies without a conviction or trial. What on earth makes you thing those other countries won’t react by shutting down any and all US sites as an obvious response? What makes you think the WTO (who has ordered us to make our markets available to online gaming sites like nearly every other country does) won’t take more drastic action? If you think this won’t have serious consequences, you deserve to be caught by surprise.
I see where you’re coming from now, cheers.
Yup, the domains certainly seem to have been of secondary importance in this case.