PRWeb Drops Online Gambling PRs

It’s being reported by a number of online gambling companies that PRWeb, the popular press release service, has adopted a policy of “no online gambling press releases” which reflects the fact that they are based out of Washington State, one of the strictest States in the USA when it comes to online gambling.

PRWeb has long been used by gaming companies to announce new products or initiatives, but it’s being reported that the current move could see PRWeb lose up to 5% of it’s revenues as a result. Washington State’s no tolerance policy to online gambling has come under fire before with detractors calling it a Nanny State and that it should allow it’s reseidents to make up their own minds on the moral issue of gambling.

Although this move is unlikely to have a major effect on the gaming industry, it’s indicative of the problems faced within the USA. In-State gambling has long been a protected species in the US and the land-based gambling companies have been very active in their campaign funding for politicians in America to try and ensure the threat posed by gambling online is minimised, if not removed altogether.

In 2006, the Bush administration passed the much-publicised UIGEA into law on the back of an unrelated anti-terrorism act. While stopping short of banning online gambling outright, the act aimed at penalising banks and financial institutions who allowed their customers to enact online gambling transactions.

Although the UIGEA had some success in achieving it’s goals, the ankle-biter was that a large number of legitimate online gambling companies pulled out of the USA leaving the path clear for many unscupulous operators to step into their place. The irony is that American gamblers are far more at risk in the unregulated environment than they were pre-UIGEA.

The effect of the PRWeb ban will not be as far-reaching, but it does represent another win for the land-based gambling establishments looking for political help to protect their interests.

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