Let me begin by saying that on a personal level, I don’t agree with online gambling. However, that is a personal opinion and I don’t have the right to dictate to other people what they should think.
My friend and colleague Ron drew something to my attention today which has absolutely appalled me. A large part of me wants to be very, very angry but in truth, my overwhelming emotion is fear. Fear of where this could take us. The action in question is the attempt by the Governor of Kentucky to seize 141 web domains that are, in his view, associated with online gambling. It has to be said that this association is very loose, in some cases merely carrying advertising. Let’s set aside for now the fact that the Governor was “elected in part on the strength of a promise to bring casino gambling to the state” (Washington Post 10.8.08) which raises all kinds of issues relating to vested interest, and focus on what is going on here.
A spokeswoman for the Kentucky Justice Department stated that “We think it creates a tremendous disadvantage for our legitimate, licensed and taxed gaming interests, and there are some damages that are due to the commonwealth as a result.” In other words, they want damages from businesses that operate outside their state for the terrible crime of carrying on their business. They want to restrict the citizens of Kentucky from having access to businesses that operate outside the state, the same spokeswoman said that their ‘primary goal is to force the Web sites to block Kentucky residents from visiting them’. Do I take it then that the residents of Kentucky are not to be allowed to do business with any organisation outside the state unless it meets with the approval of the Governor? Obviously their Governor does not believe that they are capable of making decisions for themselves. Obviously their Governor believes that freedom of choice is not a privilege to be accorded to them.
Then there are the wider issues still, what if a company does not like the fact that a competitor has a website, and is going about it’s lawful business. Can they then seize that website on some pretext or other. What if the Government of China decides it doesn’t like the policies of the American Government and seizes their websites… where does this end.
For those of us who make our living on the Internet, the creeping shadow of vested interest is like the darkness spreading from Mordor, insidious and dangerous and we have to guard against it by whatever means we have at our disposal. More frightening still, to me, is the restrictions this places on the freedom of the individual to live the life they choose, safe in the knowledge that those freedoms will be protected by those whom they elect to do so. America prides itself on being the land of the free – but is it still?
(For a full report see Washington Post 10.08.08)
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Proof if proof were needed that modern America is still the land of the brave and home of the free. Brave enough to use political power for personal gain and free to do what ever we say you can…..