Internet Gambling and Empathy

Even though this looks like a blog, it’s really not.

It’s the portal page to provide access to the podcasts I made for my final project.  Ah, but I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let me begin at the beginning and give you a little background.

In October of 2006, President Bush signed a port security bill that contained a provision to prevent Americans from gambling on the internet.  The bill works by prohibiting financial institutions from making electronic transfers into known gambling websites. 

The fallout was immediate.  Several gambling websites reacted by refusing American customers and several publicly traded websites saw their share prices drop precipitously.  For example, PartyGaming the company that ran the largest online poker game in the world, saw its stock price decline more than 60% in one day.

The bill was not totally successful, however.  Plenty of online gambling sites still accept American customers, and Americans are still finding ways to fund their internet gambling accounts. 

So with that background in mind, I can tell you a bit about my Final Project.  It’s a series of seven podcasts I made on this subject.  My point of view is that internet gambling should be legalized and regulated.  The podcasts are my attempt to communicate that perspective in a cyber-medium.  They aren’t long; I think they total approximately 22 minutes.  None of them are longer than four minutes.  So don’t be afraid that you’ll waste too much time here.

Click on a Podcast below to listen.  Leave a comment if you can.  Check out the websites linked on the right to do your own research. 

Thanks,

Darren

Podcasts

1) Introduction (0:55)

2) The Audience (3:36)

3) Their Argument (3:22)

4) Prohibition’s Effectiveness (3:33)

5) Regulation and Problem Gamblers (3:07)

6) Regulation and Minors (3:54)

7) Conclusion (3:02)