Update: Competitive Enterprise Institute Criticizes US Actions Against Online Poker

Internet freedom jeopardized, claims the organization Another organization joined the wave of severe criticism of the US enforcement agencies' actions against online poker in the country. Namely, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), an organization dedicated to "free markets and limited government" assessed that the shutdown of the US operations of three foreign-based online poker websites "has made a mockery of America's stated commitment to Internet freedom." The seizure of the three online poker giants' domains on April 15 was assessed by the organization as a move that impacted online gambling operations in nations where Internet poker is lawful and the U.S. government has no jurisdiction. It was underlined in the CEI's statement that "federal agents obtained a court order that compelled Verisign, the operator of the .com registry, to reroute the poker sites' domain names to a government page featuring intimidating federal logos notifying users of the seizure. Therefore no computer in the world, even those in countries where poker is explicitly legal, could access the internet poker sites via their [original] domain names." Still, there's a chance for the companies to challenge the US action at the World Trade Organization through a friendly WTO member nation, such as Antigua, which has already been successful in WTO issues with the USA over online gambling. In any case, the CEI finds it "deeply troubling that the United States, a country that purports to value individual freedom, has so miserably failed to protect it when it comes to politically incorrect pursuits like online gambling." "The DOJ's heavy-handed tactics should outrage anybody who values freedom and individual rights," the CEI concluded
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