eBAY Online Gambling Hypocrisy
Published: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
EBAY ONLINE GAMBLING HYPOCRISY
Whilst PayPal tries to get back into the European online gambling business, it's parent applauds US banning attempts
What must surely rate as one of the most flagrant examples of hypocrisy (unless the right hand knows not what the left is doing) came to notice this week when the eBay executive in charge of federal government relations, Brian Bieron wrote congratulating Rep. Bob Goodlatte on his proposed legislation aimed at hamstringing the online gambling industry.
Hypocritical, because eBay subsidiary PayPal has recently been trying to generate e-cash business in Europe from the industry.
IGN reports that Bieron, a senior director sent a letter to Goodlatte on March 14, commending him and his staff for introducing "commonsense legislation" to combat illegal Internet gambling in the United States. Among other things, the letter states that the most effective solution to the problem is giving law enforcement the power to prosecute citizens who participate in illegal gambling.
Despite holding these views, PayPal has made deals in recent months with two online gambling companies to provide them with payment services. At the end of February, PayPal's European division began permitting customers of betting exchange Betfair to deposit and withdraw funds via its service. In March, PayPal Europe announced the same services for Ladbrokes customers.
Prior to merging with eBay in 2002, PayPal was investigated by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer for processing payments for online gaming companies taking bets from New York citizens. In exchange for Spitzer's office dropping the investigation, PayPal ultimately agreed to pay a US$200,000 fine and to stop processing online gambling transactions involving consumers in New York
The company stopped processing online gambling transactions altogether (regardless of where the merchants and/or consumers were located) in November 2002 and held this policy until signing the deal with Betfair.
Bieron did not respond to IGN attempts to get his comments on his company's support for the Goodlatte legislation.
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