Minnesota Faces Opposition To Blocking

Date Added: May 13, 2009

Late in April 2009 the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED) working under the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) had instructed 11 telephone and Internet service providers (ISPs) to block access from all computers in the state to 200 online gambling websites. These instructions were issued under the Wire Act of 1961.

As expected the lead against this initiative of the state of Minnesota has been taken by the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA). iMEGA had immediately condemned the instructions to block the computer access to online gambling sites. Now iMEGA has written to the concerned ISPs informing them that the state’s instructions need not be complied with. It has cited the following reasons. The list of online gambling sites provided by AGED includes those who do not accept customers from the United States and also include those who have closed down permanently. The online gambling information web site Casino City has reported that only 44 of the 200 web sites named accept American players. This demonstrates that the instructions have been issued by AGED without due consideration.

The letter also highlighted that the online gambling sites do not have any contracts with the ISPs nor are provided any facilities by the ISPs. Therefore the ISPs are not bound by federal law to follow the instructions given by AGED. The Wire Act does not apply to web site operators and does not impose any duty on or provide any authority to ISPs for acting in the manner instructed by the state. Joe Brennan Jr., iMEGA chairman, said, “We hope that the ISPs will disregard the order, and that DPS will reconsider their actions and the far-reaching effects this kind of Internet censorship would have.” Reports issuing from iMEGA suggest that the ISPs will not abide by the state’s instructions, though the ISPs have not responded officially.

iMEGA has also filed a suit in the US District Court of Minneapolis. The suit prays that the court halts the blocking action initiated by AGED. The suit also prays for recovery of legal expenses from the state. Another objective of the suit according to Brennan is “to put any other state on notice that a similar action will be contested in court”. This has become essential because Minnesota was the second state to pursue this course of action, the first being Kentucky. The suit names John Willems the director of AGED as the respondent and states that his instructions are a violation of free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Whereas the response from iMEGA was expected, the online gambling community has received support from an unexpected but welcome source - a Republican Representative of the state legislature, Pat Garofalo from Farmington. Garofalo has introduced a bill in the state legislature that seeks to bar the initiative taken by AGED and makes any such state action conditional on legislative approval. Garofalo has said that he does not condone online gambling but banning access to web sites in undemocratic and not acceptable. He added that the state should have better things to do “than to go after a college kid in his dorm room or some guy sitting in his basement spending a couple of hours playing online poker”. The state should focus on balancing the $6.4 billion budget deficit instead. The director of AGED said that he would have to consult his bosses before reacting to the bill. He also confirmed that the ISPs had not yet responded.

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