Pirates Come to Ayre’s Defense

The Pirate Party of Canada has lashed out at the US Government’s indictment of native son and Bodog founder, Calvin Ayre. 

The US Attorney in Maryland on Tuesday charged Ayre and three other company executives with money laundering and bank fraud following an investigation that stems back to 2006.  The office revealed it has been monitoring Bodog.com since 2003.  Tuesday’s unsealing of an indictment against the Canadian billionaire followed the seizure of the long dormant Bodog.com domain name.

“The story of Calvin Ayre is a Canadian success story, as he built and marketed his digital services in full compliance with Canadian law,” wrote Jake Daynes, director of the Pirate Party of Canada.  

“The notion that he should be extradited to face prison in the United States is tantamount to suggesting that any Canadian who writes a blog criticising the royal family of Thailand should be extradited to face prison because his blog could be read by Thai people, or that any Canadian who posts images of himself getting drunk with friends should be sent to a Saudi prison,” Daynes said.

If this logic were to be followed, then could U.S. citizens found breaking Canadian laws be extradited, he asked.

“Conversely, it may be noted that holocaust denial and bestiality pornography are bot legal actions in the United States, but illegal under Canadian law. Do we believe that we have the right to extradite American citizens for their blog posts and Web sites, and throw them in a Canadian prison,” Daynes asked.

While sources close to Gambling911.com suggest that an extradition of Ayre and his colleagues probably “won’t happen”, Daynes said there is no way that it should, explaining that the extradition treaty between Canada and the US is directed at American citizens who have fled North after committing serious crimes on United States soil. 

With regard to the domain name being seized, any .com or .net extension does have some degree of vulnerability as they are under US Government control via Verisign. 

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com