Minnesota to ban online gambling, PPA comments

On Wednesday it was announced by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety that steps are being taken to block online gambling to the states residents. The PPA, Poker Players Alliance, was come to the defense of poker players and their rights.

The states Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division, after citing a 1961 federal anti-gambling law, has claimed that online gambling conducted within Minnesota is illegal, even if the site is hosted outside of US borders. Some 11 national and regional telephone and internet service providers have been instructed by the division to block access to Minnesota based computers to almost 200 gambling websites.

Service providers including AT&T Internet Services, Comcast Cable, DirecTV, Dish Network, Charter Communications, Qwest, Embarq and Sprint/Nextel, Frontier Communications, Verizon Wireless and Wildblue Communications were given written notice on Monday.

AT&T, Comcast and Qwest representatives said they are reviewing the notice from the state and have no further comments on the matter.

"We are putting site operators and Minnesota online gamblers on notice and in advance," John Willems, director of the state's Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division was quoted as saying, in a StarTribune article about the block. "State residents with online escrow accounts should be aware that access to their accounts may be jeopardized and their funds in peril."

Matt Werden, Minnesota director of the leading poker grassroots advocacy group, the Poker Players Alliance, issued a press release saying that the state's effort "is a clear misrepresentation of federal law, as well as Minnesota law, used in an unprecedented way to try and censor the Internet. I don't know what U.S. Code they're reading, but it is not illegal to play this great American pastime online, and we're calling their bluff.
"The fact is, online poker is not illegal, it's not criminal, and it cannot be forcibly blocked by a state authority looking to score some political points," he added. "We see headlines like this coming from communist China but never expect that it could happen here in Minnesota."
Werden closed his release saying, "The PPA will take any action necessary to make sure our members and the general public are aware of these oppressive and illegal actions, and to make sure the game of poker -- in all it's forms -- is protected in the state of Minnesota."

News Added: 30 April, 2009

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