Minnesota tries to block online gambling

[MLBKING]

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota regulators are trying to prevent online gambling.

Using a 1961 federal law designed to stop illegal gambling, the state has directed 11 telephone and Internet service providers to block nearly 200 gambling Web sites.

The state Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division says it expects responses from AT&T Internet Services, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable and the other providers within two or three weeks.

AT&T, Charter and Comcast representatives didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

State regulators are also warning those who gamble online that they could lose money and access to their Internet escrow accounts.

Online gambling is illegal throughout the country.

[Rhody78]

Blame it on Al Franken

[Gerk]

[Gerk]

Think it will be hard to implement from what I understand, Hopefully that's the case or Gerk will have to retire or move to Canada




The state is citing a federal law that requires "common carriers," a term that mainly applies to phone companies, to comply with requests that they block telecommunications services used for gambling.
But Internet service providers are not common carriers, meaning it's unlikely that a court would compel an ISP to comply with Minnesota's request, said John Morris, general counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington.
Morris also noted that the law appears to apply to phone companies directly doing business with bet-takers. But online gambling is already illegal in the U.S., so gambling sites are based overseas and U.S. ISPs have no direct links to them.
"I think this is a very problematic and significant misreading of the statute," Morris said. In a similar case, Pennsylvania briefly imposed requirements for ISPs to block child-pornography sites. But a federal court struck down the law in 2004 because the filters also blocked legitimate sites and affected Internet subscribers outside the state.

[SCALPER]

Bring back Jesse Ventura!

[revnecro1273]

i believe the state of washington tried this a while back..and i don't think it worked out