Calvin Ayre indicted, Bodog.com domain seized, but business is as always
De Communautique.
Bodog is surely one of the greatest names in online gaming since they have been working from the middle of the 90's. Unhappily, they’re such a major name that the us team of Homeland Security has been building a case against Bodog. This currently led to the seizure of the website name Bodog.com, that was noted by CalvinAyre.com.
The good news is that Bodog.com isn’t actually that vital to the company’s operation since American gamers use Bovada Poker now; those outside the United States use the domain name Bodog.eu. Thus it doesn’t actually make much sense that the Department of Homeland Security would waste their time confiscating this website name.
As for Bodog founder Calvin Ayre’s ideas on the matter, he was quoted as saying, “Not certain what to say. BodogBrand.com is a brand-licensing business based outside the united states. The company left the market last year and the site in question has been dormant internationally for longer than that.” He added, “We are only at the moment doing brand licensing deals outside the united states so this domain had no location in any of our current plans.”
Bodog founder Calvin Ayre has been indicted by federal prosecutors in Baltimore and the Bodog.com website name has been seized by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
In the indictment unsealed these days, Ayre, James Phillip, David Ferguson and Derrick Maloney are faced with performing a gambling business in addition to cash laundering. Rod Rosenstein, the U.S. Attorney in Baltimore, states that the defendants "did purposefully and illegitimately conduct fund, control, supervise, direct, and own all or part of an illegal gambling business, to wit, a gambling business involving on line sports betting."
"Sports wagering is outlawed in Maryland, and federal law forbids bookmakers from flouting that law because they're based outside the country," stated Rosenstein. "Many of the damages that underline gambling prohibitions are exacerbated when the enterprises work throughout the internet with out rules."
The indictment alleges that Bodog communicated with 2 processors to facilitate repayments with players. The processors known as in the indictment were JBL Providers, which apparently processed a minimum of $43 million, and ZipPayments, which allegedly processed a minimum of $57 million. Cash from either those processors was once seized by the IRS back in 2008.
Ayre responded to the indictments with a statement on his website, CalvinAyre.com.
“I notice this as abuse of the U.S. criminal justice system for the commercial obtain of big U.S. firms," he said. "It is obvious that black jack market is legal under international law and in the case of these paperwork is it furthermore clear that the rule of law was not allowed to decrease a rush to attempt to attempt to win the war of public opinion."
Visitors that visit Bodog.com are welcomed with a Department of Justice seizure notice similar to the one that was plastered on the home pages of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and UB.com back on April 15, 2011. Nonetheless, the real difference in this notice is that it was given by the Department of Homeland Security and not the FBI.
The seizure should not impact the short-term business of Bodog. The Bodog.com domain name has not been in use since late this past year. That domain name had already been switched to Bodog.eu and American gamers have been able to access Bovada.lv since December. Both of those web-sites are up and running as always.
