Your contingency plans in case of legal troubles?

[pokerguy]

There are no brighline legal rules about online poker anymore. While we know most of the focus is on sportsbetting, we also know the DOJ will probably not stop there. So what are some of the things US-based webmasters can do?

Here are a couple of possible plans:

1. Shutting down the website or selling it to a foreign marketing firm. This seems a bit drastic to me.

2. Stop all online poker advertising.

3. Stop all revenue-sharing online poker advertising and focus only on click-through or per sign up deals. I am no legal expert, but I remember reading somewhere that if you share in the revenue, you are more likely to get prosecuted. And, of course, no more sponsoring freerolls.

4. Keep running website as is, but run verification box requiring users to "verify" that they are not in the US, and that if they are from the US, they can only use the information on your website for "educational and entertainment" purposes. Again, I'm no lawyer, so don't know how well this works.

5. Transfer all domain registration and domain hosting offshore, but continue to live in America and run the website remotely.

6. Same as 5, but actually move out of America and to a country that has legalized online poker/gambling.

Am I missing any options? What do you guys think is the best route?

[CAZ]

Funnel everything through my uncle who lives in BC.

[pokerguy]

Sounds like a good plan.

No one else is worried about this?

[Georgia Poker]

No

[Kyle]

yawn

[pokerguy]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

For people who think this will not affect them, may I ask what your analysis is of the situation (other than that there *is* no situation).

Red Herring:

Nervous Times
Marketing and advertising agencies with online gambling clients were understandably nervous. Many sought the help of their attorneys in assessing what they should do. The indictments are generally seen as insufficient for those measuring the extent of their legal exposure.>>

“I have a potential customer in the online betting business out of Panama,” one executive who was granted anonymity told RedHerring.com. “They’re planning to mail over a million brochures to gamblers in the U.S. I called the Postal Service to find out if it’s unlawful, but no one seems to know the answer.”

Marketing firms are trying to sort out whether the government is looking at the transport of advertising paraphernalia such as banners and other promotional material across state lines, or if it is strictly concerned about sending promotional brochures through the mail, or both.

“We are talking to our lawyers, but frankly everyone is waiting for the government to spell out exactly what this all means,” said the marketing executive.

In the meantime, the British press has been having a field day with the U.S. online gambling crackdown. The latest news says PartyGaming Chief Executive Mitch Garber does not believe that the indictments will have a significant effect on his company.

He saw no signs that U.S. bettors are withdrawing their money.

[Rice]

If pushing poker affiliate programs becomes officially illegal, simply moving your servers overseas is basically saying that you're sidestepping government regulation and saying that you're above the law and know the legal ramifications of operating in the U.S. If you are a producing affiliate who has a broad base of international players, it just might make perfect sense to relocate to a country where you can operate with the law in your favor. I don't think I would move to another country if I was only making $1,000 a month or so, but as a producing affiliate I would consider the possibility of living in a country which accepted online gambling and its affiliates.

[adioking]

asdf

[Dave]

It's pointless to worry about the maybe future.

Trust an old geezer of 44 who has been in this game from the start.

Keep working on your projects like you had no idea about the possibles and the maybes.

War, poverty, bad news about everything according to CNN.

I've been a news junkie since I was 6 watching Walter Cronkite commentate on the moon landings, Vietnam war and everything since and I'll tell you that with all the shit happening in this world I have never been more optimistic about the future of mankind.

Todays problems are at par with the problems of the past.

It's nothing new folks and in fact huge advances are being made on many levels.

I know this sounds crazy and irresponsible especially to you younger people and those of you who have families but it's the truth.

Back to the poker affiliate world.

If you have made even a few bucks in the extemely competitive world of online poker affiliate marketing then you have learnt skills that no one can take away from you and can be applied to any online market.

The online marketing world is your oyster.

Get your wife or girlfriend involved in affiliate marketing. If they have a passion for anything you can be sure there is a market for it.

Don't limit yourself to just online poker, as lucrative as it may be.

[pokerguy]

Dave, thanks for the words of comfort. Hey, you're not Caz's uncle are you? ("Funnel everything through my uncle who lives in BC.")


I think whatever happens next, it will happen first to the sportsbook people. So hopefully what happens to them will give us a better indication of where poker is going.

However, I'm still having a hard time going about my business knowing that DOJ may strike at any time without warning (even though the likelihood is small).