On a darker note, we now learn that the FBI has actually frozen the funds of all US clients, which were still ‘on account’ at NETeller the online e-wallet. It was earlier believed that the digital money would be refunded to US players and now they are calling it evidence and the cash is on ice.
Strangely enough, the authorities are attempting to link NETeller’s online payment processing of gambling money to terrorist funding. Despite the fact that NETeller in the UK has public shareholders, pays dividends and offers 100% audited financial statements, the FBI is pursuing an argument that e-wallet funds are being used to finance terrorist.
Additionally, despite the transparent nature of all these UK payment companies, subpoenas have been issued to the following Wall Street investment banks HSBC, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Kleinwort. All of these fine companies participated in underwriting public offerings for some of the more popular online gambling webs. They all have offices in London and now they all have records being subpoenaed.
This is simply bizarre. Its a great political move because now you have all the other digital currency operators thinking…Am I next?
One notable online gaming expert is quoted as saying:
“(Terrorism is) a smokescreen thrown up by the right-wing Christian lunatics in the government who want to control every facet of human behavior from birth to death. As far as I know, there isn’t a scintilla of evidence there’s any link between online sites and terrorist groups.” *lvbusinesspress.com
Wow, talk about chasing a wild goose! I have not seen anything like this since Roy Cohn and Joe McCarthy crusaded during 1950’s to stop the ‘Red Threat’. Should we start calling this the ‘Poker Threat’ of 2007?
Look closely, the US has gone from Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s (VA) bill, H.R. 4411, which originally got support from the Christian Coalition in an attempt to ban all Internet gambling, up to the present day which is, David Litterick — the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York attempting to connect the dots between online poker money and Osama Bin Laden style funding support. I just don’t see it. The original anti gambling bill was about stopping kids’ access to online gaming. How did they arrive at this new prosecutorial frontier?
Mr. Litterick is one of the finest legal minds in the US and in the past has prosecuted terrorists involved in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and now holds a top position at the Department of Homeland Security.
The significance of Mr. Litterick’s appearance here is quite a shift in politics since August of last year when Rep. Goodlatte had to burn the midnight oil to gain support for his anti gambling bill. With this kind of persecution ahead of them, I don’t think the NETeller execs have a snowballs chance in hell of surviving the case.
This should be a big warning for the gold backed digital currency e-dinar. Formerly operated by the e-gold think tank this electronic money is based on the Islamic Dinar. Operated from Malaysia and Dubai Internet City (a great headquarter for any online business), the primary function of the e-dinar system is to render payments, in gold (e-dinar) and silver (e-dirham), from one customer account to another.
If they are trying to paint ‘poker’ money as terrorist financing, I can’t imagine what they will say about e-dinar. Of course e-dinar is not yet processing 7 billion + each year. Although its a fine digital gold currency, I don’t think it is quite that popular!
This is IMHO a very dark time for the US. Now at the dawn of a new age of ‘electronic money’, short sighted US regulators are taking one step forward and three steps back.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=20378
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