Unless you represent Party Poker, and thus have extraordinary access to affiliate records than you are not in a position to question whether catfish, beanie, or any affiliate, was marketing to players in bad faith. Party is not explaining their actions and, like the affiliates being penalized, we do not have access to information that would allow us to make a sound judgment.
On the notion of fraud – the word fraud is used very liberally by online gaming providers as a means to define unacceptable behavior: fraud traffic, fraud player, etc. However, the actions of any affiliate accused of poaching players neither constitutes fraud nor represents an illegal act. There are simply no laws defining poaching affiliate accounts as an illegal act. Unethical – yes, fraudulent or illegal – no
Any affiliate acting in good faith promotional activities should be paid by the affiliate. Party was never shy to encourage affiliates to offer incentive cash to players, and many affiliates are being penalized for these good faith marketing efforts. It is irresponsible for Party to conclude that players with multiple accounts were marketed in bad faith without acknowledging their own role in the abuse. With the exception of “real” player fraud, affiliates should not be accountable for abuse of the TOS by the player.
While many, including myself, applaud Party Poker’s implementation of a policy that is desperately needed in this industry, I question whether their action was a desire to set an industry standard or simply a cash-grab to shore-up their financials in lea of a possible sale. Party’s silence leads me to believe the latter is true, and their reason for confiscating affiliate funds does not reflect their true motive. So, they get absolutely no praise from me…or banner space.
And to conclude my pitch-a-bitch: The gaming industry needs to come together and create a fair and just mechanism that will provide dispute resolution and binding arbitration for players and affiliates. Just for players would be a huge progress.
As always, just my three cents.
|