-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- from; http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- Digital Society Internet Gambling to Test US Arrogance We're in charge here. Or else we'll start bombing soon. The ability of national governments to regulate borderless activities on the internet will face an important legal test starting on Monday, when jury selection begins in a US criminal trial challenging the legality of online gambling. In the first federal prosecution of a sports gambling operation on the internet, Jay Cohen, a former stockbroker who runs World Sports Exchange, an online betting operation in Antigua, is charged with violating a 40-year-old law against using the telephone to gamble across state or federal borders. Mr Cohen was indicted after undercover FBI agents in New York placed bets with his company using its web site alluringly named www.wsex.com and its toll-free telephone number. The case could affect the future of online gaming, a rapidly growing business - worldwide revenues are estimated at $1bn. One internet research group projects $3bn in revenues by 2002. But Jim Halpert, a Washington internet lawyer at Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe, says the importance of the case goes beyond gaming: "This is an interesting case of asserting jurisdiction over overseas web sites in a criminal context. It will be closely followed by companies doing business on the Internet, both in the US and abroad." Online gambling crystallises the problem of governance in cyberspace: how can states or nations control Internet activities which affect their citizens, but originate beyond their borders? When a gambler in New York places a bet on www.wsex.com, does the act take place in New York (where its legality is in dispute), in Antigua (where gambling is legal), or in some borderless world where there are no rules? In legal documents drawn up for the case, the US attorney says: "Where a bet is 'placed ' physically, conceptually or otherwise simply does not matter for purposes of prosecution." The crime occurs when an "interstate wire communication facility," like the internet, is used to transmit the wager. As for jurisdiction, the US attorney argues, whenever US citizens are harmed, extraterritorial action is justified. "If [web sites] transmit information that comes into this country, then we do have the legal right to prosecute," says Alan Kefner, chairman of the Internet gambling working group of the National Association of Attorneys General. But internet legal experts say the matter is not so simple. The US Senate passed a bill late last year aimed at banning Internet gambling but the measure faces an uncertain future in the House of Representatives. In the meantime, the Department of Justice "is attempting to deal judicially with something that legislatures are viewing as just too hard," says Henry Judy, a member of the American Bar Association's committee on the law of cyberspace. "This pushes the concept of jurisdiction to its limits." The Financial Times, February 14, 2000 Digital Society Did Banks Sabotage Online Bond Trading System? Innovations in marketmaking. EuroMTS, the largest electronic trading system for European government bonds, on Friday accused two of its bank members of trying to sabotage its system. Gianluka Garbi, chief executive, said it detected two banks bombarding the system with fake price proposals in an apparent bid to slow it down. "These banks are behaving like computer hackers," he said. EuroMTS's 24 member banks include most of Europe's largest as well as leading US investment banks. EuroMTS accounts for more than 30 per cent of all trading volumes in European government bonds and is the main source of liquidity in the market. It handles E14bn (�8.6bn) worth of transactions a day. Mr Garbi said the two banks were sending millions of price inputs into the system but were not trading on their proposals. EuroMTS is capable of handling 150 price changes a second and would not crash, but could be slowed down, he said. Mr Garbi's charges come on the heels of one of the largest incidents of computer terrorism. Several top web sites, including portal Yahoo.com, bookseller Amazon.com, eBay, the leading auction site, and CNN's news web site, came under similar attacks by hackers earlier this week. He refused to name the two banks but said: "We have warned those banks and we would have to expel them unless they change their behaviour. Then everyone would find out who they are." Mr Garbi said the actions of one of the banks might be due to it experiencing serious technological problems, but said the other was undoubtedly abusing the system to undermine EuroMTS. He said that bank was openly advertising a system competing with EuroMTS. EuroMTS is the only electronic trading platform not developed by banks or proprietary traders. It was developed by MTS, the Italian exchange for government bonds. It allows large market makers to trade liquid benchmark bonds electronically rather than by the more time-consuming and expensive over-the-counter method. However, EuroMTS has fierce competition in electronic bond trading. Rival systems include Cantor eSpeed, which also plans to open its platform to internet users, and BrokerTech, which is owned by 12 banks, many of them members of EuroMTS. BrokerTech plans to start trading US treasuries and key European government bonds this year. Some observers accuse Euro MTS of paranoia. "They are simply very nervous about the competition," one market participant said. The Financial Times, February 14, 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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