Wake Up And Act Now!

[all4affiliates]

Hi everyone,

I lot of great replies. I have spent the morning going through a few different forums as well as reading some different recaps of the bill on various poker and gaming blog sites. Its seems that besides the 105 or so congress people who are co-supporting bill 4777, that everyone else of sound mind is supporting the same stance against this bill and that there are far more greater issues in this world than online gaming.

I recently heard an interview with Daniele Negraneau (one of the world's best poker players) and he said online poker sites are actually a blessing in disguise for young adults wanting to learn poker. When he was 20 or 21 he had to go to seedy illegal underground taverns to play poker and had to fear leaving whenever he had a large sum of money in his pockets. Online Poker sites give young player a safe forum to learn to play a game that - I am sorry US gov't - but is not going away anytime soon.

If Gov't is truely worried about underage kids stealing their parents credit cards to gamble onlne, I would argue that is more of parenting issue, or more so a general internet commerce issue and not simply an online gambling issue. There are a million different sites where kids can use their parents credit cards to purchase things online apart from gaming. ie Ebay and other shopping sites. I am willing to bet...no pun intended...there are at least as many teenager daughters addicted to shopping as their are boys addicted to poker.

[Wardy7]

I would also like to add my support. Like a few others on here I am also from the UK but obviously making websites means we can still be affected by the proposed banning.

Away from the fact that we make websites and it will likely affect us in this way I think on a personal level it is a disgusting thing to try and do.
We are all adults and have our own free will to make our own decisions and also spend OUR own money in the way we want to. In this "free world" why are we being dictated to what we can and can't do on a matter such as this, it is unbelievable.

Cheers
Wardy

[mattybop]

I live in the US, and have come to a sad conclusion. Until the general public is willing to take responsibility for there own actions, the politicians are going to continue giving in to the cry babies. I can not tell you how many times I have turned on the TV and listened to someone blaming someone else, or society for there pitfalls. This country is in a sad state right now, both financialy and polititaly. Online gaming, regulated, can solve some of the financial problems. As far as the politicians we will just have to pray for some sanity.

[Former Member 14]

I've just got an idea regarding my above suggestion for the Internet campaign. Maybe what we can do is to announce that for each opinion regarding the issue we receive from players, we add $10 to a sum of money that we will give to a charity organization. We get 200 submission we give $2,000, etc... Each participating webmaster pays for the number of submission he/she brings (if he/she is ready to participate and invest a little money).

Yes that's a much better idea.

Least this way it can't come back to bite us in the ass.

[Maxfalcon]

So are there persons interested to do this or not? If I and Wager2WinUK only are interested, it may not have any real interest to start something.

Maybe John could organize a simple vote and mail GPWA base if he thinks that it is a good solution. I'm prepared to do some additional work, but I want to be sure that we will have lots of participation and the backend of news sites to help spread the word (Lyceum Media - OnlineCasinosNews.com, iGamingNews.com etc... - since the project has only the global industry's interests, we may get help from them).

Has anyone some real contacts at these sites?

[bigbcasinos]

Within the next few days there will be a chat session on flash chat. I will invite everyone if possible. We have to fit in with USA, UK, SA/Israel/Cypress, Oz so a time is NOT going to be easy.

The chat will have 2 themes. 1 will be Goodlatte's bill and the other will be to discuss a possible arbitration committee where the Affiliate Programs and Affiliates work together to sort out problems. Should be great fun.

Anyway, that would be the best place to take your idea forward about the donations.

[casinoglen]

I'm for it Cedrik, by all means! I certainly appreciate the members from other nations getting involved in this as well. I will definitely send a mail to the membership in reference to this.

Do you know what's sad? We elect these clowns to represent us, yet they do so without asking what it is WE want.

It seems they all (or at least most of them) have their own agenda they are worried about and to hell with everyone else and what it is they want, which is the freedom from being told what they can and cannot do in their personal lives.

[Alby]

In addition to the suggestions given here, how about hiring one of the top Washington lobbying firms to try and stop this bill from actually becoming law?

I don't know what sort of time period they are looking at for this bill to pass, but if we could raise around a million USD or so we could hire some pretty big guns to put forward our case to the more sensible representatives in Congress. I am not in the US either, but from what I understand some of these lobbying firms have a lot of influence. I would be happy to financially support an effort to stop this bill from passing, and I am confident that we could raise a lot of money both from the casinos and from affiliates if someone organised an effort like this. For the record I hereby pledge the first $1000 to anyone who organises a fund to hire a lobbying form with the intention to stop this madness in the US.

Anyone with experience in this area?

[Maxfalcon]

Thanks for your support John. In your mailing, could you please ask to people that they confirm their participation, and for which sites they want to 'advertise' this. We must have a list. Also, let them know that depending on the number of comments each webmaster brings in, they will have to 'pay' for them.

As for the cash, any ideas on how to collect it? And which US charity organization? I'm not a US citizen so I can't be of any help for choosing one.

[Maxfalcon]

In addition to the suggestions given here, how about hiring one of the top Washington lobbying firms to try and stop this bill from actually becoming law?

I don't know what sort of time period they are looking at for this bill to pass, but if we could raise around a million USD or so we could hire some pretty big guns to put forward our case to the more sensible representatives in Congress. I am not in the US either, but from what I understand some of these lobbying firms have a lot of influence. I would be happy to financially support an effort to stop this bill from passing, and I am confident that we could raise a lot of money both from the casinos and from affiliates if someone organised an effort like this. For the record I hereby pledge the first $1000 to anyone who organises a fund to hire a lobbying form with the intention to stop this madness in the US.

Anyone with experience in this area?

That could be an idea, however - aren't the big guys of this industry already doing this? With all that millions of dollars involved...

[casinoglen]

I know Microgaming did a time, but I honestly don't know if they still do.

It's an excellent idea though. I'd like to see some of the "big money" through in for something like that. ie: Casino Software, operators, etc. It's a cinch that a fair number of webmasters couldn't afford to do that.

A trust fund should be setup I would think to handle the donations.

We would need to choose someone that would be caretaker of the fund.

Cedrick, I will put your idea down in an email, and ask that they confirm participation with us. I will then start a thread and make it sticky of participants, then we could know at a glance who is participating. This isn't to say he did this or she did that either folks. We are well aware that many webmasters as individuals are not in a financial position to be able to manage such a thing. We completely understand that

Now, Cedrick, do we donate to a charity, (perhaps gamblers anonymous?) or do we put the funds towards the lobbying effort.

On the realistic side of things too folks, we need to move on this NOW

[Alby]

however - aren't the big guys of this industry already doing this? With all that millions of dollars involved...

I don't know maybe they are, but I think everyone in this industry who makes any sizable amount of money has a responsibility to contribute to a "war chest" to fight this bill if it is still possible, even if it is only $10. I think there is probably a lot more power and media attention available to an organisation with a large group of people who make their living from the industry and all made contributions to stopping the law, than one or a few of the big online casinos...

[Alby]

John, As the head of the Gambling Portal Webmasters Association why don't you set-up a trust fund to handle donations for a lobbying effort? I think the money should eventually be handed over to someone with a lot of experience/knowledge in this arena, (I am only assuming that you don't have this John), but as you said we need to get the ball rolling and the sooner there is a trust fund set-up and money coming in, the quicker we can start organising a lobbying effort. If you had something set-up the webmasters could also start lobbying the affiliate program managers for donations to the fund and getting the word out. Maybe we could also put links on our sites giving ordinary people the chance to donate money towards this lobbying effort? It would be quite powerful to have a sizable amount of money collected from hundreds or even thousands of hard-working Americans that want to see this bill stopped. I can see some positive media coverage coming out of an effort like this.

[mhellmer]

My fellow Americans are probably aware of the recent resignation of the Dishonerable Randy "Duke" Cuningham. He was sentanced a few days ago to 8 years in prison for accepting bribes while allegedly representing his constituents, which I am one.

I didn't know how deeply I was affected until today when I went to the house website to email my opinion on HR4777 to his temporary replacement. I was saddened to find out that I have been disenfranchised and currently have no representative in the house. By house rules my disctrict is no longer represented and I have to wait until there is a special election to replace his Dukeness with someone not as corrupt, but given enough time should be able to achive the level of corruptness on par with the rest of the house.

However, I did write my concerns to my two fine senators, even though this is a house bill. I also wrote my concerns to the "Honerable Vacancy" in case there were still anyone who gave a damn about the CA-50 district.

[breakbets]

This is *exactly* what I came here to post, and I think is our only viable option at this point. We need to get ALL online casinos contributing (US players are a huge chunk of the market for everyone), ALL webmasters. This is what lobbiests are FOR, people! We need to use the system to our advantage. Anyone with connections at the big companies/casinos? Let's figure out a way to get the ball rolling, and soon. If the big guys contributed a fraction of their advertising budget to hiring a lobbiest, we'd be on much more solid ground.

In addition to the suggestions given here, how about hiring one of the top Washington lobbying firms to try and stop this bill from actually becoming law?

I don't know what sort of time period they are looking at for this bill to pass, but if we could raise around a million USD or so we could hire some pretty big guns to put forward our case to the more sensible representatives in Congress. I am not in the US either, but from what I understand some of these lobbying firms have a lot of influence. I would be happy to financially support an effort to stop this bill from passing, and I am confident that we could raise a lot of money both from the casinos and from affiliates if someone organised an effort like this. For the record I hereby pledge the first $1000 to anyone who organises a fund to hire a lobbying form with the intention to stop this madness in the US.

Anyone with experience in this area?

[Maxfalcon]

Now, Cedrick, do we donate to a charity, (perhaps gamblers anonymous?) or do we put the funds towards the lobbying effort.

We could divide in two the amount we collect. One half to Gamblers Anonymous, and one half to the lobbying effort.

The problem I'm afraid is that if some webmasters already donate for the lobbying effort (as a separate campaign), then they won't want (or be able) to donate the money for each comments they get from their players. The separate campaigns would reduce the effectiveness of each effort.

[libertybell]

I live in ohio, so I hope things don't fall on deaf ears. I sent the letter that is at the beginning of this thread, and also posted it on the front page of http://www.gamblersdestiny.com with the link to the congressman list that was provided.


If anyone wants to take this a little further, I can do stickers, wristbands and things that we could use to sell on our sites to raise funds for the charity idea( VERY GOOD IDEA TOO) as well as for the fight.


Let me know on that.


Thanks,
James

[TheCPA]

Internet-gambling companies opposing a ban are readying for a fight. The Interactive Gaming Council, for now, still retains Greenberg Traurig LLP, Mr. Abramoff's old firm. Sportingbet.com has retained Washington lobbying heavyweight Patton Boggs LLP. A grass-roots organization, called the Poker Players Alliance, also is working against the ban.

I'm not sure how much money the IGC has, and I'm not sure Greenburg Traurig is the best choice for them due to the attention Abramoff is getting.
Abramoff is getting way too much credit for being responsible for this bill, and lots of others either passing, or not passing.
To watch all these politicians jump on the band wagon to revive old bills, and fluff off their past failures on Abramoff is pretty ridiculous, IMO.
I'm more than certain he helped a bunch of them get their bills passed over the years too, but that doesn't matter now.
They're all going to stab this guy in the back, and use him for a scapegoat instead of taking responsibility for their own actions.
You'd think the guy had more power than Congress, and the President combined.

Anyway, there is no doubt in my mind that lobbying the bill is the best way to go, but I seriously don't think enough webmasters will fork over enough money, FAST enough to generate the money that would be needed to hire a decent firm.
A million is probably enough to get someone, but may be on the low side to be honest.

Perhaps we can get more info from the IGC on what they are doing, and go from there.

I do think there are some other things that need to be done too.
Remember, Lobbyists are sort of a "Covert" group of characters.
They are mostly working quietly behind the scenes, and only use the threat of going public with this, or that, as a hammer to hang over the Politicians heads to get what they want.

In our case, I think the industry needs an actual spokes person.
You know,.... someone that PERFECTLY understands our industry, and can go on talk shows, etc to refute all the uninformed, and deliberate misconceptions that the politicians are carelessly tossing around, and hanging their hats on.
We need someone to set the record straight, inform the public of what's really going on, and how the industry CAN be responsible, and accountable for the things that might be a concern.
Someone to point out that the Feds shouldn't be infringing on our civil rights, and our personal choices on how we spend our after tax dollars.
We need to highlight the fact that the individual states, not the Feds, should have the final say in whether they want to allow online gambling, and tax it accordingly.
In other words, a strong voice to simply express all of the things we talk about amongst ourselves.
We need an Industry mouthpiece, IMO to show the public how hypocritical, and contrary to ensuring our freedoms of choice this entire issue is.

I know CAP has that Attorney, Larry Walters scheduled to speak at their Springbreak event. He seems like a possible choice.
Perhaps some of you folks that are going to be there can bring this up?

[casinoglen]

Good idea Nick, but shouldn't we perhaps contact him like now, rather than later?

[casinoglen]

why don't you set-up a trust fund to handle donations for a lobbying effort?

I can do this Alby and can run down tomorrow to take care of it. This will at least get things started.

We could divide in two the amount we collect. One half to Gamblers Anonymous, and one half to the lobbying effort.

This sounds good too Cedrik. We can setup a spreadsheet to keep track of who gave what amount, and what that amount is designated for. We can designate someone to maintain the records. Perhaps even leaving a link somewhere where anyone wishing a copy of it can download a zipped file to see where things stand as far as finances go then.

Now, another question. I've never been involved with a lobbying firm before, but I kind of liked Nicks decription of them Anyway, I wouldn't even begin to know how much money they would want to be involved. Does anyone else?

BTW: We can name the bank account the GPWA HR4777 Trust Fund