David Carruthers pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy and made a plea deal where he will probably only serve 33 months or less in prison for a charge carrying a penalty of up to 20 years.  In return Carruthers agreed to cooperate in the prosecution of others involved with BetOnSports.  The criminal enterprise cost customers $16 million.  It seems that internet gambling will be safer if David cooperate.

Congressman Barney Frank is a determined man.  He has set out to lift the federal ban on gambling and at a press conference on Sunday he presented his agenda for financial reform.  He says “I’m going to be pushing it, the existing legislation (2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) is an inappropriate interference on the personal freedom of Americans and this interference should be undone.”

It seems that the online gambling industry may be one of the few that will keep their heads above water in this economic crisis.  Clive Hawkswood, chief executive of the European Remote Gambling Association said “the online betting market is coping very well with the slowdown and is bucking the trend.”

The state of Utah in the USA is coming around to Representative Barney Frank’s way of thinking and his desire to regulate the internet gambling industry.  Utah Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff, now thinks that it is the way forward, because people are going to gamble online anyway and they should be able to do so safely.

A ruling given by an appellate court in Washington states that Betcha.com is not illegal as it did not violate any state gambling laws in their operations.  Betcha.com is for gamblers who want to place bets, but  against other gamblers, not against the house.  The ruling states “Because Betcha.com customers agreed in advance that participants were not required to pay their losses, Betcha.com was not engaged in ‘gambling’”.