US Bit -- During debate of the Leach bill, HR 556, yesterday in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., reminded his fellow legislators how dangerous Internet gambling is by referring to Harvard professor Howard Schaffer’s analogy that Internet gambling is to gambling as crack-cocaine is to drugs. Considering Schaffer’s stature as the director of Harvard Medical School's Division on Addictions, this would have been quite an endorsement... had Schaffer actually made such a comparison. Schaffer told IGN today that he thinks video poker is the crack-cocaine of gambling and that he "never referred to Internet gambling this way since gambling is played on computers and the Internet only connects computers--it is a virtual place."
New Stuff -- PayPal said today that it has signed up its 20 millionth account holder, giving the e-cash company double the users it had at this time last year. By mid October, PayPal expects that more than $10 billion will have been sent over its network since it opened for business in October 1999. The company was recently bought by eBay.
Privacy, Please -- Online poker site and software provider Poker.com is reacting to the passage of the Leach Internet gambling prohibition bill by contemplating privatization. The company said today that it will hold a shareholders meeting soon to determine whether its assets will be sold to a private company, Poker.com S.A. "Based on the fact that the company is in the online gaming industry, there is very little credibility given to the value of its stock, hence it is almost impossible for Poker.com Inc. shares to be fairly valued or to significantly increase in value," the company stated.