Online Gambling Operator Launches Free Speech Challenge Over Ad Ban

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

18 August 2004

Louisiana-based Casino City Inc. has filed a suit in Baton Rouge federal court requesting that advertisements for overseas online gambling websites be protected under the First Amendment.

According to the firm, which runs a website offering news on casinos and sportsbooks, but does not take wagers, recent action by the Justice Department and several state authorities has "had a chilling effect upon free speech", which has caused Casino City to lose advertising revenue.

Earlier in the month, it was reported that internet search firms and portals including Yahoo, Google, Overture and Ask Jeeves had been served with a class action alleging that they had received millions of dollars as a result of running advertisements for illegal online gambling services.

According to the suit, the dozen firms in question all sold the right to advertise in relation to search terms such as "internet gambling", "illegal gambling", and "California gambling".

Reporting on the case, CNET News revealed that the prosecution had also alleged that the search portals utilised geotracking software in order to target particular regions (including California) for certain advertisements.

In addition to stopping the advertisements from running, the search firms were asked to give the Californian authorities the "millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains" that they are alleged to have received.

According to the Associated Press, Casino City has argued that since the advertisements in question are for operations that are legal in the countries in which they are based (although not in the US), they should be protected as an "exercise of free expression".

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