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During a post-South Carolina primary speech, Texas Congressman and US GOP Presidential candidate made mention of how US citizens had stood together, forcing politicians to essentially back off unfavorable policy as it relates to online gambling. The speech was widely broadcast on all three major cable networks (scroll down to watch the video of his speech below).
Paul meant to reference the Internet world’s victory to prevent the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) from appearing on next week’s docket. Senate Leader Harry Reid called off plans to vote on the bill following a massive protest across the Net this past Wednesday.
The issue of legalized online gambling in the US is indeed near and dear to the Texas Congressman’s heart. He has co-sponsored a bill in the past along with Democrat Barney Frank to overturn current prohibition.
Likewise, Dr. Paul was among the most ardent critics of SOPA.
The Stop Internet Piracy Act would essentially give law enforcement and complainants nearly unlimited power in shutting down websites of copyright violators, including those that link to offenders. In other words, the likes of Google, YouTube, Wikipedia, Reddit.com all faced potential punitive damages should they have failed to adhere to such heavy handed censorship.
What seemed like a gaffe really wasn’t when one considers the online gambling industry is providing the precursor for a Web world under assault. Following a series of website seizures, the sector was quick to adapt a plan of switching their primary domain addresses over to .eu and .ag extensions. The majority of Internet betting companies operate outside the US in jurisdictions where it is legal to do so including Costa Rica, Antigua and the United Kingdom. Sovereign tribal regions of Canada such as Kahnawake also host online gambling websites.
This is a trend that could ultimately change the Web domain registry arena as we know it today. Could the .com extensions, which are governed by the United States, soon become a thing of the past?
Ron Paul’s speech where he mentions online gambling (around the 11:30 mark) appears below.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
