Court Stops '.usa' Domain Sales
A U.S. District Court, on order from the Federal Trade Commission, shut down a business that sold deceptive Web addresses including ".usa," ".brit" and ".bet."
The court's action will also assure that the company doesn't try to register the same domain names offshore. Additionally, the court froze some of the company's assets to address potential customer redress.
The United Kingdom's Office of Fair Trading has been assisting the FTC's investigation of deceptive domain name sales.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, the company encouraged people to purchase ".usa" domain names as a display of patriotism. The advertisements told consumers they could buy the domains at www.dotusa.com for $59 each.
FinCEN Proposal Could Affect Nevada Casinos
Nevada casinos' exemption from the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act may end soon, according to www.moneylaundering.com.
The Web site reports that the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently proposed a regulation that would require casinos and card clubs to report suspicious transactions.
Since the early 1980s, Nevada's casinos have been exempt from requirements of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act that deal with currency transaction and certain bookmaking regulations.
U.S. Religious Leaders Urge Repeal of Gambling Laws
More than 220 U.S. religious leaders signed an open letter to President George W. Bush and Congress on May 6, urging them to repeal legalized gambling in America.
The letter was published in Roll Call magazine, a Capitol Hill publication. It called legalized gambling a "moral and cultural cancer," and said numerous studies substantiate its claim.
"Sociological studies prove that gambling has a debilitation effect on society," wrote Tony Campolo, president of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education. "Any justification
of legitimized gambling on the grounds that it helps subsidize such services as care for the elderly or education ignores the fact that it is the least affluent that tend to gamble, making the poor pay for what we all should support."
A press release issued by Focus on the Family, a Christian organization, to publicize the letter, did not mention the social consequences of illegal--as opposed to legal and regulated--gambling.