Online Casino Players Union - Strength In Numbers
Published: Friday, December 17, 2004 Online-Casinos.com
ONLINE CASINO PLAYER'S UNION - STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Internet gambler's union will offer insurance, player help.
Press releases announcing the formation of a new player's association were going out this week, advising the media that:
Online casino players will have a strong ally in protecting their right to fair and efficient treatment with the launch this week of a new "players only" organisation titled Online Player's Union
Founded by experienced online players Damian Dunlap (President) and Mark Altland (Union Boss) the organization has carefully researched and compiled a list of trouble-free online casinos where players can safely expect to be well treated with fair games and promotions.
Members of the Online Player's Union (OPU) who experience any problems that cannot be resolved with these operations are covered by insurance up to US $ 500 by the Union.
"Membership is free and we have already experienced a surge of interest from players who feel that they need a totally independent representative body that is headed by players and works for players," says Dunlap.
"Our insurance policy is not “loser insurance”, it is for legitimate player complaints with one of our sanctioned casinos. We only offer this policy to those who become a union member, and play at our sanctioned casinos through our links. We feel this gives players a level of protection and security when they play at an online casino."
Union boss Mark Altland says there is strength in numbers when it comes to upholding player rights and negotiating exclusive promotional deals.
"Whilst this would only be used as a last resort , negotiations having failed, the Online Player's Union is organized such as to deploy mass consumer actions," he reveals. "This is the very basis of our power, and something we feel will bring us the credibility we are seeking.
"The strike concept is quite simple. Upon a successful petition from union members, we will notify all union members via email of the proposed action. In the email will be a message and the email address of the offending casino, which may not necessarily be a "OPU-santioned" casino.
"The union member simply has to copy and paste the email and send it to the casino. We also encourage all of our members to close their accounts with the offending casino, and state to the casino exactly why they are doing so. The union membership is further encouraged to post the strike action on other forums, as well as friends and family who play online. This is not a joke, this concept is something that we take very seriously, and we expect our member base to comply with union actions."
Dunlap and Altland feel passionately that players need to band together in an unregulated industry to protect themselves from dishonest and badly run online casinos. Both speak in terms of solidarity and balance, and the OPU website carries a forum to encourage exchanges of information and a sense of community
Members are also encouraged to visit the OPU site frequently to keep up to date with weekly cash contests for members, prizes and cash giveaways.
The body will be exclusively for players for the forseeable future.
