International: Australian blacklist names gambling URLs
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Wednesday, an anonymous source leaked a list of banned Web pages the Australian government plans to block access to. The list, which appeared on WikiLeaks.org, not only includes the URLs of child-pornography and terrorist websites, but also those of several online-gambling, legal pornography and Christian-church sites.
The list is reportedly the work of the Australian Communications and Media Authority and includes 2,395 URLs. The government agency compiled the list as a catalogue of sites it plans to block access to using Web-filtering software.
The list was meant to be confidential, and the ACMA has since added WikiLeaks.org – a nonprofit, anonymous document repository for whistleblowers – to the blacklist. According to WikiLeaks.org, an “Internet filtering-software maker” provided the list.
Betfair.com CEO Andrew Twaits was furious after learning that the list includes his company’s domain name. According to ComputerWorld.com, Twaits was unaware that the ACMA considered Betfair.com a Totalizator Agency Board competitor. Australia’s Totalizator Agency Board, or TAB, is the nation’s state-sponsored sports-betting monopoly.
“We didn't know (about the ban),” Twaits said. “We've been licensed to operate in Australia for three years and have never received a complaint or any allegation that Betfair locally or globally is not permitted to be used by Australians.
“The global Betfair site is used by Australians every day.”
Although it is illegal for offshore online-gambling sites to offer their services in Australia, Twaits insisted that the law does not apply to its sports-betting site because the company blocks Australians from accessing its poker and casino products.
“I need to find out what the implications are and how we got on the list,” Twaits said. “I'm amazed that this has happened.”
The following gambling URLs are currently included on the ACMA’s blacklist:
FullTiltPoker.com
GamblingClub.com
Betfair.com
PokerNews.com
Bodoglife.com
CDPoker.com
CoralPoker.com
PacificPoker.com
PartyPoker.com
PokerRoom.com
VegadPalms.com
WilliamHillCasino.com
HollywoodPoker.com
PokerStars.com
AbsolutePoker.com
ParadisePoker.com
MansionPoker.com
DuplicatePoker.com- Phill Provance
phill.provance@gamblingplanet.orgTO AVOID LEGAL REDRESS UNDER INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT LAW, REPRINTERS MUST CITE THE NAME OF THE ABOVE ARTICLE’S AUTHOR, THAT AUTHOR’S E-MAIL ADDRESS AND ALL LINKS PERTAINING TO THE PUBLISHING SITES (www.gamblingplanet.org and poker.gamblingplanet.org).
19-Mar-2009, 05:32