Re: LAW: Idea futures and H. R. 556: "To prevent the use of certain bank instruments..."

From: Charlie Stross (charlie@antipope.org)
Date: Tue Feb 27 2001 - 03:26:34 MST


On Mon, Feb 26, 2001 at 12:20:47PM -0700, Chris Rasch wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Bad news for those interested in idea futures markets...
 
Back when I was running the back end servers for DataCash, we gobbled
up about 80% of the UK online gambling market. It's legal in the UK --
albeit strictly controlled -- as are activities like spread betting.
So you might want to look into jurisdictions outside the USA that
regulate legal gambling. Get the system set up so that the punters open
a UK bank account with one of the online banks (e.g. egg) and move money
from _that_ to the futures market, and it's outwith the US control.

Note that this isn't going to be trivial; for example, under anti-
drugs money laundering laws in the UK proof of identity is required
before you can open a bank account.

-- Charlie



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