FTP in Trouble
Saw a small article on pg6 of the financial times today about online poker and how NY State were going after Team FTP. Apart from all of them being in court a kinda funny image its a sign the future isn’t going to get any easier for ftp or stars.
Firstly, it stated the FBI had been collecting evidence about the company. Basically determining ownership. Secondly, the article claimed some investigatory body (I don’t think it was FBI though) established FTP was used to faciliatate money laundering.
It went on to point out NY state had successfully shutdown a payment processor, made another pay a fine and was looking to take a much harsher stance now evidence had been compiled.
So in a selfish sense as an affiliate who has nothing whatsoever to gain from FTP or Stars success I’m pretty happy.
Although the idea of FTP facing what will be (if implemented) strong reprecussions you should remind yourself the reason FTP and Stars have propspered for the last few years is because they decided to circumnavigate laws concerning payment processing and interpret the wire act and the UIGEA differentley to everyone else.
There are tons of Euro sites who decided not to operate in the USA and the reprecussions possibly faced by FTP and Stars are simply an eventually they certainly factored into their business plan.
That being said its going to be a while before anything happens. My guess is that more payment processors will be shut down and that will lead to a small dent in traffic in the short term.
Who knows
