| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Guest
|
 Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 11:23 am Post subject: Internet gambling and the mythical link to terror |
 |
|
A brief intro:
| Quote: | (For the best overview of the PATRIOT ACTs I and II, see the Center for Democracy and Technology Dec. 6/04 policy post, the American Civil Liberties Union and the website, 9/11 CitizensWatch. See also comments by Canada's Privacy Commissioner on CAPPS II, which she claims may be even more intrusive than PATRIOT:
| Quote: | | I read with interest the comments made by the General Counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Centre before the House Committee examining this system. His view was that while most of the post 9/11 debate over security and liberty understandably has focused on the PATRIOT Act, the serious problems inherent in CAPPS II will have a more direct and immediate impact on most Americans. He went on to explain to the Committee that "while we all agree that there is a clear need for enhanced aviation security, there are many reasons to question whether CAPPS II is the right approach, both from a security perspective and in terms of its detrimental impact on our traditional liberties)." More at epic.org's 2004 Year in Review posted Jan. 11/05. |
|
What can you tell me about the effect of the USA PATRIOT Act (the "Patriot Act") on Internet poker sites offshore?
Many thanks to River City Group for sending us the recent heads-up slugged, Oxley to Piggyback Funding Prohibition Bill on Anti-Terrorism Legislation, by Kevin Smith at Interactive Gaming News here concerning initiatives by the U.S. to expand legislation in an effort to prevent terrorist money-laundering schemes that may involve offshore Internet gaming sites.
For recent historical background explaining the relationship between I-gaming and the Patriot Act, see Is I-Gaming within Biting Distance of the PATRIOT Act? by Patrick O'Brien of the Florida law firm, Greenberg Traurig, first published in Internet Gaming News March 28/02, here.
Here now is an excerpt from the Kevin Smith story:
| Quote: | Introduced by Rep. Spencer Bachus R-Ala. and passed in the House as a standalone bill in 2003, H.R. 2143 would ban the use of credit cards, wire transfers, e-cash and other forms of payment for funding Internet gambling activities.
The 9/11 bill is scheduled for its second hearing in the Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, and Congress Daily reported Monday that Oxley will seek to a add the funding prohibition measure. [/i] (See also Financial Services Committee press release Sept. 20/04 here). |
What is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act and who's behind it?
See the latest version of H.R. 2143 here and related statutes at Treasury Department online here.
The Financial Services Committee is chaired by Congressman Michael Oxley R-Findlay. Read his comments of July 29/04 on the 9/11 Commission Report, which describes the U.S. response to Sept. 11/01 : 9/11. See also the press release announcing the Aug. 23/04 hearing, the list of witnesses scheduled at that hearing and their testimony.
Remarks by witnesses at the Sept. 22/04 hearing before a full committee are similarly available online at the Financial Services Committee website under Legislative Proposals to Implement the Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission here. Click on comments by Brian Roseboro, Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, at paras. 3 and 4 reprinted here:
| Quote: | H.R. 2143 would allow six months for the federal financial regulators and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to promulgate regulations for payments systems that would prevent transactions relating to unlawful Internet gambling. The rules would require any designated payment systems to establish policies and procedures "reasonably designed" to identify and block, and to prevent the acceptance of payment system products or services related to, restricted transactions. Restriced transactions would be transmittals or transactions to gambling businesses that are connected to unlawful Internet gambling by another person, for example, a credit card payments.
H.R. 2143 does not legislate any new crime of Internet gambling, and it takes into consideration various characteristics of our financial system. The bill designates financial regulators and the FTC as the appropriate rule makers for payments system transactions affecting financial institutions, financial instruments, and financial products and services. It also designates the federal financial regulators as the appropriate enforcers. The Administration opposes illegal Internet gambling and looks forward to continuing to work with Congress on this important issue. |
See also the press release concerning testimony by Stuart Levey, Under Secretary, Terrorism and Financial Intelligence here. Here is an excerpt, which outlines plans and programs already in place to ensure international co-operation with U.S. anti-terrorist goals:
| Quote: | In this respect, the United States is leading the global effort to increase information sharing as well as financial transparency. FinCEN's leadership in the Egmont Group has spurred a rapid expansion of financial intelligence units (FIUs), with 94 such FIUs now operating around the world. This network will only grow in importance as the FIUs continue to develop projects and conduits to detect and prevent terrorist financing and financial crimes.
In addition, Treasury will continue to spearhead efforts with international bodies like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to promote balanced regulatory regimes that provide for financial transparency. Thanks to these efforts, scores of countries are now called upon to: regulate informal banking systems like hawalas; include originator information on cross-border wire transfers; freeze and seize terrorist-related funds; overtly criminalize terrorist financing; and increase vigilance over the non-profit sector.
These FATF principles and practices are being promulgated further by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which have adopted the FATF Recommendations (see revised Forty Recommendations on Money Laundering beginning at the bottom of p. 4) as part of their anti-money laundering principles used in assessing jurisdictions. In addition, the forthcoming creation of FATF-style regional bodies in Central Asia and the Middle East/North Africa will hold a range of new countries to the standards of the international community. TFI will continue to press aggressively on these and other international efforts – such as building counter-terrorism financing capacity worldwide – to counter the ever-evolving threats of terrorist financing and money laundering. |
International co-operation initiatives: (For more on these, click here on our material under Pasquantino).
For more on the U.S.-led international anti-terrorism drive, trawl the murky fishing grounds of Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (see especially comments Sept. 6/04 by network director William Fox at p. 3 of this document, which reveals quite clearly that 9/11 events cost terrorists just under $400,00) and p. 21 of this 2002 Fact Sheet , which today sounds somewhat moderate to us by comparison.
We also like the drab (almost as bad as us) but articulate UK source, Lowtax Resource Shop, which we hope will provide some welcome international commentary on the U.S. position. Please check back for updates.
Further reading:
In addition to Treasury Department's Enforcement division here, have a quick read of Terrorist Groups Using Cash Couriers to Move Funds published after the Sept. 22 hearing by Sarah Borchersen-Keto at ComplianceHeadquarters.
Not as quick but equally compelling is Correspondent Banking: The Latest BSA Examination Target - Part I (Parts II and III are also available by mouse click) from August, 2004 by Sue Burt, Senior Attorney - Bankers Systems Inc., also from the ComplianceHeadquarters site.
See also Bank Secrecy Act Central to War on Terrorist Financing According to 9-11 Commission again from August, 2004 and by Sarah Borchersen-Keto.
The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) recently added Washington Watch, a regular column created to track legislative developments affecting financial institutions. We were very impressed with the February, 2004 column and have asked to receive news alerts from the site, which we'll share here. Please check back for updates.
In the meantime, if you have an opinion, an article or a website we should know about do, yes please, send it to us at legal@pokerpulse.com. We'd love to hear from you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2004 1:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Internet gambling and terrorist money laundering:
Is there a connection?
In his comments before the Financial Services Committee Sept. 22/04, committee chairman Ohio Rep. Michael Oxley described the link between Internet gambling and terrorist money laundering as follows:
| Quote: | | The Justice Department has testified that illegal Internet gambling provides a dangerous loophole in our anti-terror finance and anti-money-laundering regimes that can be easily exploited. |
We were unable to locate that testimony at the committee's website, and we're still perusing the 16 hits we got when we searched the terms, 'internet <near5> gambling and money laundering and terrorism' at the U.S. Department of Justice website here. *Please check back for updates.
Among those hits are comments by John G. Malcolm, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, testifying before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Committee on the Judiciary April 23/03 as follows:
| Quote: | Money Laundering and Internet Gambling
Another major concern that the Department of Justice has about on-line gambling is that such businesses provide criminals with an easy and excellent vehicle for money laundering. This is due in large part to the cash-intensive nature of the industry, the fact that most Internet gambling sites are located offshore, and the volume, speed, and international reach of Internet transactions.
It is a fact that money launderers have to go to financial institutions to conceal their illegal funds and to recycle those funds back into the economy for their use. Because criminals are well aware of the fact that banks are now subject to greater scrutiny and regulation, they have -- not surprisingly -- turned to other non-bank financial institutions to launder their money. On-line casinos are a particularly inviting target because, in addition to using the gambling that on-line casinos offer as a way to hide or transfer money, on-line casinos offer a broad array of financial services to their customers, such as providing credit accounts, fund transmittal services, check cashing services, and currency exchange services.
Individuals wanting to launder ill-gotten gains through an on-line casino can do so in a variety of ways. For example, a customer could establish an account with a casino using illegally-derived proceeds, conduct a minimal amount of betting or engage in offsetting bets with an overseas confederate, and then request repayment from the casino, thereby providing a new “source” of the funds. If a gambler wants to transfer money to an inside source in the casino, who may be located in another country, he can just play until he loses the requisite amount. Similarly, if an insider wants to transfer money to the gambler, perhaps as payment for some illicit activity, he can rig the game so the bettor wins.
The anonymous nature of the Internet and the use of encryption make it difficult to trace the transactions. Further, the gambling business may not maintain the transaction records, in which case tracing may be impossible. While regulators in the United States can visit physical casinos, observe their operations, and examine their books and records to ensure compliance with regulations, this is far more difficult, if not impossible, with virtual casinos. |
Aside from those comments, all we've found so far are these materials prepared by the Drug Enforcement Administration which concern drug-related money laundering:
| Quote: | Money Laundering
The Caribbean plays an important role in drug-related money laundering. Many Caribbean countries have well-developed offshore banking systems and bank secrecy laws that facilitate money laundering. In countries with less developed banking systems, cash often is moved in bulk shipments through the Caribbean and South America. According to recent United Nations (U.N.) reporting, approximately 42 percent of the world’s offshore banks and 38 percent of the world’s offshore corporate entities (also known as international business companies, or IBCs) are in the Caribbean and Latin America. In early 2000, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) estimated that US$60 billion in drug trafficking and organized crime proceeds are laundered through the Caribbean every year; |
and a report entitled, National Drug Threat Assessment 2003, in which similar observations are noted.
We will continue to search the Web for information on evidence of terrorist money laundering at Internet gaming sites. Please check back for updates.
In the meantime, to explore Ohio Rep. Oxley's assertion further, we took our own advice today and visited the U.S. Treasury Dept.'s Office of Foreign Assets Control, where we scrolled down and clicked on Terrorist Sanctions. This document sets out U.S. President Executive Order 13224 - Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, Or Support Terrorism, a broadly-worded order that came into effect Sept. 24/01. The order is supported by 88 pages of individual names said to be terrorists, terrorist organizations or supporters of either as per definitions listed in the order. However, when we searched the terms, 'Internet gambling gaming casinos,' we came up empty. (Originally posted Sept. 28/04)
| Quote: | | *Note: We refined our search at DOJ Aug. 10/07 to include all words, 'Internet gambling terrorism money laundering,' which yielded 92 hits. View our hits. Of those, we searched the first 10 for any link between terrorism and gambling of any kind - nothing! |
Link to this entry using
http://pokerpulse.com/legal/viewtopic.php?p=400#400.
Last edited by legal on Fri Aug 10, 2007 2:35 pm; edited 7 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Let's ask interactive gaming experts at River City Group:
We decided to ask Kevin Smith, a reporter with River City Group (see story URL on the Sept. 22/04 hearing listed above), for information about the Patriot Act and evidence of money laundering at Internet gaming sites. Here is the same-day message we received:
| Quote: | From: Kevin
To: legal@pokerpulse.com
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 10:56 AM
Subject: RE: Last para of Oxley - Patriot Act story by Kevin Smith
Thanks for the kind words about our research and coverage. . .You bring up some very good points but one of the most interesting is something that I have been saying for years now: "Show us (the industry) who is using online gambling to launder money for terrorist groups." For years we have been told that the industry has the "possibility" of money laundering but to date there has been no recorded case of any charges or even allegations of such an operation in place. A year or two ago we heard of some vague references from the FBI that there were "ongoing" investigations into the matter. Don't you think something would have happened by now if they were able to find any evidence? There have been a lot of knee-jerk reactions since 9/11 and this is just another one. Online gaming is an easy target and why not tie it into terrorist activities, even if there is no factual evidence? I mean, heck, we went to war with a country that had no connection to 9/11 so why not go after an industry that has no connection to terrorist groups?? (Can you tell you hit a sore spot with me)??
Anyway, I will keep you posted if I hear any good insights.
Cheers,
KS |
Our note of thanks:
| Quote: | From: legal@pokerpulse.com
To: Kevin
Cc: legal@pokerpulse.com
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 10:48 AM
Subject: Re: Last para of Oxley - Patriot Act story by Kevin Smith
Kevin,
Excellent. Thanks so much. It won't be easy getting people to speculate on whether foreign jurisdictions would permit their citizens' assets to be seized if those citizens are operating within the law of their respective countries. We'll certainly post whatever insights we obtain in that regard. The Canadian position will be particularly interesting because of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and a variety of other treaties with the U.S.
At one of the U.S. Treasury divisions, there is a disturbing document concerning a plan for U.S. trade embargoes against countries that don't co-operate with its anti-terrorist policies and programs. What if leaders of one or more countries decides quietly that the risk of a terrorist attack is overborne by the cost of the effort to preclude such attack?
We're also unclear about evidence of terrorist money-laundering at Internet gambling sites. We've seen the claims but maybe we have missed the stories involving actual such incidents?
We think it would be interesting to run our e-mail exchanges with you on this issue as it develops, by the way. Is that OK with you? As an example, you can see how we've similarly engaged the California Civil Justice Association on the Cisneros business against the search engines there. We'd be happy to include any River City Group clickable artwork, books, etc. We do very much like our Worldwide Internet Gambling 7th Edition text and say so at the forum.
Legal@pp |
Last edited by legal on Wed Sep 14, 2005 10:56 am; edited 3 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Guest
|
| Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2004 11:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
Bully-boy diplomacy and rampant consumerism:
Does this book explain why America is now so despised?
| Quote: | After the Empire:
The Breakdown of the American Order
Hardcover
By Emmanuel Todd
| Quote: | The war against Iraq represents a decisive stage in this recent transformation. Apres l'empire's thesis about the significance of America's "theatrical micromilitarism" was all too well illustrated by the aggressive preemptive strike of the world's leading military power against a military midget - an underdeveloped country of twenty-four million inhabitants exhausted by a decade-long economic embargo. The theatrical media coverage of this war, including the U.S. military's close surveillance of how the war was "playing" back home and around the world, must not blind us to a fundamental reality: the size of the opponent chosen by the United States is the true indicator of its currtent power. Attacking the weak is hardly a convincing proof of one's own strength. On the contrary, and in direct confirmation of the central thesis of this book, the United States is pretending to remain the world's indispensable superpower by attacking insignificant adversaries. But this America - a militaristic, agitated, uncertain, anxious country projecting its own disorder around the globe - is hardly the "indispensable nation" it claims to be and is certainly not what the rest of the world really needs now.
America on the other hand cannot "go it alone" - a fact that has become increasingly evident over the past twelve months. Its huge trade deficit has increased further since the publication of Apres l'empire. Its dependence on foreign sources of investment capital is greater than ever. America's real war is about economics not terrorism. The country is battling to maintain its status as the world's financial center by making a symbolic show of its military might in the heart of Eurasia, thereby hoping to forget and have others ignore America's industrial weakness, its financial needs, and its predatory character. However, instead of reinforcing the image of America's global leadership as the current administration in Washington expected, its forced march into war has produced a rapid decline in the international status of the United States. (emphasis added) (-- p. xvii) |
|
We thought this might be a good place to inject some perhaps prescient comments by Todd, whose previous text, La Chute Finale (The Final Fall, 1979) accurately predicted the collapse of the Soviet regime, an unpopular theory at the time of its publication but one that nonetheless lends a certain credibility to his current view that the proverbial American dog has had his day.
| Quote: | | Unable to control the real powers of its day - by holding on to Japan and Europe in the industrial sector and breaking up Russia's core and its nuclear capability - America has resorted to making a show of empire by choosing to pursue military and diplomatic actions among a series of puny powers dubbed for dramatic effect "the axis of evil" and more generally the Arab world - the point of intersection of these two axes, evil and Arab, being Iraq. In terms of its level of intensity and risk American military action is now somewhere between a real war and a video game. Embargoes are put in place against defenseless countries, insignificant armies are bombarded, increasingly sophisticated armaments that are said to have the precision of video games are being conceived and built, it is claimed, and yet in practice unarmed civilian populations are bombed in old-fashioned ways that are reminiscent of World War II. The level of risk is almost nonexistent for the American army. Risks definitely exist, however, for the American civilian population since the asymmetrical U.S. military domination causes terrorist reactions to rise up from among the dominated parts of the world - the attacks of September 11, 2001, being the most stunning example. ..Herein lies the great counterproductive ricochet of America's game. America's leaders thought that at most they risked fomenting closer ties between one major power, Russia, and two minor powers, China and Iran - a scenario that would have left them in control of their Japanese and European protectorates. But what they really risk, if they do not calm down, is seeing one major nuclear power, Russia, forge closer ties with the two dominant industrial powers, Europe and Japan. (p. 193 from the final chapter entitled, Conclusion: Endgame) (emphasis ours). |
The author resists any identification or association with what he calls the anti-American establishment among Paris intellectuals, describing himself in the preface at p. xvi as a historian and an anthropologist trained to examine periods, places, customs, and conflicts with a cold eye, whose family ties with the Anglo-Saxon world are numerous and long-standing. Notwithstanding familial sentiment, the author pulls no punches, calling America in one instance a glorious beggar.
| Quote: | | ...Due to trade surpluses, the real money has piled up in Europe and Asia, while financially speaking America has become the planet's glorious beggar. An embargo imposed by the United States or any threat to the flow of investment capital would of course be disastrous for the world economy, but the United States would be the first to suffer, dependent as it is on the rest of the world for its supply of just about everything. This is why the American diplomatic system is falling apart little by little, and all the United States can muster in response is one bellicose action after another against minor-league powers. True power is economic power, and that is what America lacks today. The minute any major player refuses to go along and says, "No" to the United States...surprise, nothing happens! (emphasis ours). France, for example, will not be punished because the United States does not have the means to do so. As for Germany, its financial strength is such that the United States has tried to forget that the German government and German people were among those most ardently opposed to the American war on Iraq. (p. xii). |
While one may not agree with all Todd's comments, they do provide a certain grist to the mill of argument in favor of Internet gambling, a growth industry worldwide by all accounts and one that might enrich the U.S. economy if an appropriate regulatory scheme was in place to permit and even encourage it.
| Quote: | La Chute Finale
(The Final Fall)
Paperback
By Emmanuel Todd
|
Hold your nose with Boyles for some American-style repartee:
| Quote: | Vile France
Fear, Duplicity, Cowardice and Cheese
Hardcover
By Denis Boyles
|
Further pokes at U.S. imperialism by another notable French scholar:
| Quote: | The Atlantic
Magazine Subscription
In the Footsteps of Tocqueville
A Frenchman Hits the Road
and Takes Our Measure
By Bernard-Henri Levy
Translated by Charlotte Mandell
May, 2005
When the first instalment of this series appeared in the magazine, websites like this one sprung up overnight to decry Levy's less than complimentary observations of American life. |
Link to this entry
http://pokerpulse.com/legal/viewtopic.php?p=61#61 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Preserving life and liberty:
DOJ calls ACLU challenges to the PATRIOT Act myths
We were very pleased to find this clickable document posted recently at DOJ's website, The USA PATRIOT Act, Myth v. Reality, an articulate effort by the department to refute claims by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) regarding this controversial legislation and its alleged erosion of democratic freedoms. Here are a few samples:
| Quote: | Section 806. Assets of terrorist organizations.
Summary: Amends federal forfeiture law to authorize civil forfeiture of assets owned by persons engaged in terrorism.
Myth: "Section 806 of the Act could result in the civil seizure of their assets without a prior hearing, and without them ever being convicted of a crime. It is by far the most significant change of which political organizations need to be aware." [ACLU, Dec. 6, 2002]
Reality: Forfeiture under section 806 is authorized only in narrow circumstances. The subject must be engaged in conduct that
(1) violates federal or state criminal law; (
2) involves violence or the risk of death; and
(3) is committed with a terrorist intent.
Prior law did not specifically authorize the confiscation of terrorist assets. Instead, forfeiture was authorized only in narrow circumstances for the "proceeds" of murder, arson, and some terrorism offenses. But most terrorism offenses do not yield proceeds, and available forfeiture laws required detailed tracing that is difficult for accounts coming through the banks of countries used by many terrorists.
Section 806 increases our ability to strike at terrorists' economic base by permitting the forfeiture of their property regardless of the source of the property, and regardless of whether the property has actually been used to commit a terrorism offense.
Section 806 is similar to the forfeiture previously available under RICO. In parity with the drug forfeiture laws, the section also authorizes the forfeiture of property used or intended to be used to facilitate a terrorist act, regardless of its source.
As of April 1, 2003, the Department has not yet used section 806. In most cases, it has not been necessary for the Department to seek forfeiture under this provision, because the suspects' assets already had been frozen by the Treasury Department (emphasis ours). |
| Quote: | Section 319. Forfeiture of funds in United States interbank accounts.
Summary: Permits the forfeiture of funds held in United States interbank accounts.
Facts: Section 319 allows the government to seize funds subject to forfeiture, which are located in a foreign bank account, by authorizing the seizure of the foreign bank's funds that are held in a correspondent U.S. account.
This is true regardless of whether or not the money in the correspondent account is directly traceable to the money held in the foreign bank account.
The Department has used section 319 in several significant cases.
On January 18, 2001, a federal grand jury indicted James Gibson for various offenses, including conspiracy to commit money laundering, and mail and wire fraud. Gibson, a lawyer, allegedly defrauded his clients, numerous personal injury victims, of millions of dollars by fraudulently structuring settlements. Gibson fled to Belize, depositing some of the proceeds from the scheme in two Belizean banks. The Department's efforts to recover the proceeds initially proved unsuccessful. But following the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, section 319 was used to serve a seizure warrant on the Belizean bank's interbank account in the United States. The remaining funds were recovered.
In December 2001, the Department also used section 319 to recover almost $1.7 million in funds. This money will be used to compensate the victims of the defendant's fraudulent scheme. |
| Quote: | Section 802. Definition of domestic terrorism.
Summary: Adds to 18 U.S.C. § 2331 a new definition of "domestic terrorism," similar to the existing definition of "international terrorism."
Myth: "Expands terrorism laws to include 'domestic terrorism' which could subject political organizations to surveillance, wiretapping, harassment, and criminal action for political advocacy." [ACLU, Feb. 11, 2003]; The Patriot Act includes "provision that might allow the actions of peaceful groups that dissent from government policy, such as Greenpeace, to be treated as 'domestic terrorism.'" [ACLU fundraising letter, cited by Stuart Taylor, "Backlash Grows against Patriot Act- But Critics Miss the Mark," Fulton County Daily Report, Aug. 5, 2003]
Reality: Section 802's definition of "domestic terrorism" is extremely narrow - indeed, it is much narrower than the pre-existing definition of "international terrorism."
Individuals and groups would be eligible for surveillance under this definition only if they engage in criminal wrongdoing that could result in death. That is so because the definition of "domestic terrorism" is limited to conduct that (1) violates federal or state criminal law and (2) is dangerous to human life.
In addition, law enforcement would have to show that the conduct appears to have been committed with a specified terrorism related intent, and that the conduct occurred primarily in the U.S.
By contrast, an individual would fall within the definition of "international terrorism" whenever he or she commits a crime that involves "violent" conduct. |
Hands up, everyone who feels better now.
CCR also leading the charge in rights and freedoms protection:
We are very impressed with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a first-class advocacy group that successfully challenges a wide array of U.S. infringements of civil rights and liberties in the wake of 9/11.
Here is a sample campaign, this one against the appointment of John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court for his alleged conflict of interest arising from his failure to step down in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. See also Thank You, Mr. President, Last week, John Roberts wrote Bush a blank check by Emily Bazelon July 26/05 in the excellent e-zine, Slate. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 2:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
90-day detention in Terrorism Bill voted down 322-291
Britain to detain terrorist suspects 28 days without laying a charge:
See the Nov. 9/05 story, Blair defeated over terror laws and links at BBC News online. Here is an excerpt from the bottom half:
| Quote: | Shami Chakrabarti, director of the civil rights group Liberty, said she was "heartened" that MPs had defeated the 90-day plan.
In his final plea for MPs to back the plans, (British Prime Minister) Mr Blair urged MPs to take the advice of the police who had foiled two terrorist plots since the 7 July attacks in London.
In heated exchanges at prime minister's questions, Mr Blair said: "We are not living in a police state but we are living in a country that faces a real and serious threat of terrorism."
Ministers had tried to reassure wavering Labour MPs by promising that the new laws would expire unless the Commons renewed them in a year's time.
Other concessions included promising scrutiny of the detention process by a High Court judge. (Note: For more about the bill, see the excellent Explanatory Notes here).
In a sign of the importance given to the vote, Chancellor Gordon Brown was called back within minutes of arriving in Israel for a high profile visit. And Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also flew back early from EU-Russia talks in Moscow. |
We will be following the bill's progress through the House of Lords, where it's currently under committee review. Please check back for updates. In the meantime, we note the provisions specifically targeting Internet websites:
| Quote: | Clause 3 - Application of sections 1 and 2 to internet activity etc.
40. Under clauses 1 and 2 a person who is providing an electronic service has a defence to the offences in those clauses if he can show amongst other things that a statement or publication did not express his views and did not have his endorsement (see clauses 1(7) and 2(9)). It is also an element of the defence in clause 2(8) (which applies whether or not a person is providing or using an electronic service) that the matter in the publication did not have the defendant's endorsement. The effect of clause 3 is to deem a person providing or using an electronic service to have endorsed a statement if he has received a notice under clause 3 and he has failed to comply with it. If the person is accused of an offence under clause 1 or 2 then the effect of clause 3 is that he cannot take advantage of the defence in clauses 1(7), 2(8) and (9) respectively.
41. Clause 3 contains a number of references to "publishing", "records", "article" and "statement", the definitions of which are contained in clause 20 (Interpretation of Part 1).
Subsection (1)
42. Subsection (1) applies the clause to services provided electronically. Subsection (1)(a) relates to statements that are published under clause 1. Subsection (1)(b) relates to conduct that amounts to an offence under clause 2. In both cases the publishing or conduct that amounts to the offence must occur in the provision or use of an electronic service. (From Explanatory Notes above) |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 5:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Congress extends PATRIOT Act but only to February, 2006:
Barron's
Magazine Subscription
Home for the Holidays
p. 8 brief
Dec. 20/05
| Quote: | | Congress headed home after leaving a passel of unfinished business. Lawmakers agreed on a $453 billion defense-spending bill, which included aid to the Gulf Coast and other spending. They also extended the Patriot Act, set to expire Dec. 31, by just five weeks, through Feb. 3. A bill cut nearly $40 billion in spending edged by the Senate by one vote, but awaits a vote in the House. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:14 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Conde Nast Traveler
Magazine Subscription
Will This City Save Us All?
Las Vegas is the unlikely incubator of
the latest anti-terror technologies -
breakthroughs born of twin concerns:
how to protect the free-spending multitudes
while avoiding a police state. The result is
a wide-open fortress where hospitality is
king and data is the best defense. Guy
Martin reports on how security wagers being
placed in Sin City may yield a jackpot in the
war on terror
February, 2007.
| Quote: | "The great similarity between a group of criminals interested in taking money from a casino and a group of terrorists interested in blowing up a lot of people is that both are clandestine groups who want to keep their malicious intentions under wraps," ((Jeff) Jonas says. "Yet the members of the groups all leave digital trails - be they financial, social, or otherwise - that converge somewhere. Those convergences are now findable."
...Jonas's next effort in deep-background cross-referencing...is a kind of software watchdog that never sleeps. It is Jonas's riposte to charges in the 9/11 Commission Report that various government agencies possessed relevant information but had no way of connecting the dots. This next-generation NORA will reexamine all that we know in light of the intelligence we receive today.
Jonas gives a hypothetical example straight off the casino floor, but it could just as well come from the trenches of the war on terror. Six months after security busts a ring of six criminals, an employee updates his home address per casino protocol. "Bingo!" Jonas says. "It's the same address used by one of the original conspirators. But how does casino security know that they know it, since the case has been closed? It's about having the software put two and two together. You may be holding some piece of intelligence today that is not significant, but it could be very significant next Thursday.l We want the software to be able to tell you that.
...In May 2006, the Department of Homeland Security cut Las Vegas from the list of cities that could apply for counterterrorism grants from the federal government. This staggering repudiation stung local and state officials alike. However, it necessitated no action whatsoever on the part of the big casinos - the self-made, hard-nosed hospitality billionaires didn't have to change a thing. In security terms, they were already years ahead of the federal government. In fact, you could say it's a stance they learned from the town's beginnings. Keep your friends close and enemies closer. (-- pgs. 150 and 154) |
Link to this entry
http://pokerpulse.com/legal/viewtopic.php?p=316#316
Last edited by legal on Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:40 pm; edited 3 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 2:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | | *Note: We refined our search at DOJ Aug. 10/07 to include all words, 'Internet gambling terrorism money laundering,' which yielded 92 hits. View our hits. Of those, we searched the first 10 for a link between terrorism and gambling of any kind - nothing! |
Link to this entry
http://pokerpulse.com/legal/viewtopic.php?p=401#401.
Last edited by legal on Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:30 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Angels, Mobsters & Narco-Terrorists
The Rising Menace of Global Criminal Empires
Hardcover
By Frostback journalist Antonio Nicaso and Lee Lamothe
| Quote: | ...The rules of the vory v zakone include the following:
. A vor must support another vor in any and all circumstances.
. A vor can only live on what he has stolen or conned from a "citizen" or has won while gambling.
. A vor lives above and beyond the rules of State law.
. A vor must never serve in the armed forces.
. A vor must never defend himself in court, if charged with a crime of which he is innocent.
. A vor must take from other prisoners while in custody.
. A vor must agitate against the State while in custody; whenever he can he should exploit the weaknesses of his captors.
. A vor must find and train new young criminals and, if they're suitable, arrange for their acceptance into the underworld.
. A vor must find and train new young criminals and, if they're suitable, arrange for their acceptance into the underworld.
. A vor must never marry before the State; semi-permanent relationships are permitted; and a marriage involving a vor is akin to a master-slave relationship.
. A vor must donate money from his activities to an obshchak, a fund for the assistance of the other Thieves.
. A vor mustn't gamble more than he has; all gambling debts must be settled. (Vory V Zakone at p. 138) |
Vor
The Thief
DVD
Link to this entry
http://pokerpulse.com/legal/viewtopic.php?p=613#613 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
From Gambles at Law:
Rumpole and the Reign of Terror
Hardcover
By Sir John Mortimer
| Quote: | There followed a bleak period in the Rumpole career. Not since the early days, when I had sat in what was then Hilda's daddy's chambers, had I faced such an alarming absence of paid employment. I arrived at chambers each day and did The Times crossword too quickly. Then I carried on with my memoirs until it was time for the shot of pie and Guinness at the pub, which I began to wonder if I could still afford. Back in chambers I had the first small cigar and fell into a light doze. At around teatime I would go into the clerk's room and ask Henry if I had anything 'in the list for tomorrow'.
'No, Mr Rumpole. You're in luck's way - they're giving you a holiday tomorrow.' (From Chapter 16 at pg. 76) |
Link to this entry
http://pokerpulse.com/legal/viewtopic.php?p=617#617 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ 
Search 
Memberlist 
Usergroups
Profile 
Log in to check your private messages 
Log in 
