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When this city's newest gambling venture
opened, there was no fanfare, no visit from Gov. George E. Pataki, no
accolades from local officials, not even a single billboard.
That's because Charlie's Palace Casino employs one person, is mostly
run from the Caribbean and is not expected to have any impact on the
local economy.
Charles M. Haick, proprietor of what his fliers tout as a "locally
owned" online casino - the servers for his site's host are located on
the island of St. Martin - believes Charlie's Palace will give residents
yet another gambling option, and perhaps give Seneca Niagara Casino some
competition.
Whether it's legal is another matter.
"As far as I know, there are no laws in cyberspace," Haick said. "You
can't keep people from logging onto the Internet, so you can't keep them
from gambling."
Like hundreds of other online and offshore sites worldwide - which
are expected to take in $3 billion in profits this year - Haick's site
wheels and deals in a legal gray area. The future of such sites depends
on a World Trade Organization ruling, challenges to the more than
40-year-old Federal Wire Act, and whether federal and state authorities
believe Haick "owns" his casino.
State Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer's office has taken a hard
stance on Internet casinos, pressuring financial institutions to halt
gambling-related transactions and urging media companies - including
search engines such as Google and Yahoo - not to accept casinos'
advertisements.
Kenneth Dreifach, chief of the state attorney general's Internet
bureau, said that Haick or anyone else involved in online gambling might
be prosecuted.
"It is illegal to operate or profit from an Internet casino if it's
not authorized in New York State," said Dreifach. And New York has no
authorized Internet casinos, according to the state Gaming and Wagering
Board.
Read the
entire article at:
The Buffalo News
2004 Online Casino News Archive
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