There has been some very stupid things in the news lately that follow a similar vein. Mostly recently is the news of an online gambling site’s exective being arrested for running such a site. The location, Costa Rica, in which the site is based legalizes gambling. In fact, the company is registered on the UK stock exchange. Let me see if I can outline the events so far. American’s betting on sports, where it is illegal, contact someone in a country, where it is legal, to gamble on sports. And someone working for the company is arrested.
This is a very dangerous can of worm’s the FBI has opened. If this is acceptable behavior for Americans it is acceptable behavior for everyone. How many things are legal in this country that are illegal in any of a number of countries? If I drew a cartoon of Allah or Muhammed and traveled to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, etc. I could rightfully be tried and convicted even though my actions were legal were I performed them and the art is legal where it is hosted. Is it my responsibility to be aware of the content on my website, which may be illegal in another country? If I made a documentary about Tiananmen Square should I expect to be arrested when I go to China?
If everyone in the world’s online activity is to be judged by the lowest common denominator we would be left with very little to do and immediately presented with the question of who arbitrates between two parties and who enforces such decisions on a global scale. Which brings in the question of sovereignty. Has each country agreed to pass it’s rights to decide what is acceptable on the Internet to a worldwide group of individuals?
To gamble online or be offended by a cartoon requires two actions by two parties. One is the creation by one party and the other is taking action to view the “illegal” content. It is heinous to hold the first party responsible for the actions of the second party or to judge the first party by the standards of the second.
Right now the website is blocking content from the US. This is certainly technically feasible and relatively easy to do. Is it the right thing to do? Currently, the gambling website first asks someone where they are from (by looking at the IP address) and allowing access or not. This puts the activity of keeping track of each country’s laws onto the gambling website.
Following this standard I must know the laws from every country pertaining to the activity of my website. We leave aside the possibility that the locale that has illegalized a behavior maybe so small (county or state) as to make it impossible to filter internet addresses. The creator of the “illegal” content is still held responsible for the actions others. They live under the threat of prosecution for the actions of others should they travel to the illegitimizing country.
There are only two reasonable solutions we are left with is for the country to deny it’s own citizens access to online content which it deams illegal. I think the best known example of this is the Chinese Great Firewall, which bans content the Chinese government doesn’t want to make available to it’s citizens. This action places the responsibility of monitoring the laws and enforcing the laws upon the citizens who have agreed to live under them.
The other is to make is to take the opposite tack and legalize gambling or any other behavior that would cause this issue to arise. The other unlikely possiblities are to give arbitration and judgement to a single world wide group. Or to hold an individual responsible for the actions of another and to keep track of what is and is not legal behavior for all citizens worldwide. This seems to be what the FBI wants to do.
Maybe they have aspirations we are not aware of. When people learn of this decisions they will cease to come to America for fear of prosecution. So, should we next send the FBI to other countries to arrest employees of websites which are illegal in the Unites States?
The only thing which the gambling executive is guilty of in this case is providing access to content for whom it is illegal to access. He did not commit a crime in his home jurisdiction or this jurisdiction by providing an online gambling site. The illegal behavior was performed by Americans, knowingly in some cases, violating their own laws. Laws which, as a republic state, they have agreed either through inaction or action. If the FBI wants to arrest someone for gambling they should request records indicating the individuals who are responsible and seek to prosecute them according to the laws they live under. Anything else is a violation of the rights of an individual, corporation, or sovereign nation. If the FBI cannot respect these rights they have no business enforcing the laws upon which those rights are based.
P.S. I was tempted, but I don’t even want to go into the fact the online gambling legislation is before congress right now and this arrest plays right into a free publicity stunt for such legislation.