NY Governor Resigns, Taking his Anti-Online Gaming Initiatives

March 12th, 2008 by admin

As far back as 2003, when Eliot Spitzer was the New York Attorney General, he forced 10 banks to block cardholders from using their credit cards for transactions identified as online gambling. According to Mr. Spitzer the agreement with the banks was a “turning point in the credit card industry. The vast majority of credit card issuers-and all issuers doing significant business with New York consumers-has now recognized their legal, ethical, and business obligation to block credit-card transactions identified as online gambling.“

Prior to forcing the banks to stop processing credit card online gambling transactions, in 2002, PayPal was investigated by Spitzer for processing payments for online gaming companies taking bets from New York citizens. In exchange for Spitzer’s office dropping the investigation, PayPal ultimately agreed to pay a US$200,000 fine and to stop processing online gambling transactions involving consumers in New York.

Taking over for Spitzer is David A. Paterson who was elected lieutenant governor of New York in November 2006 on the ticket led by Eliot Spitzer. Previously, Mr. Paterson had served as the minority leader of the state Senate. The scion of a prominent Harlem political family, Mr. Paterson was born legally blind and worked as a prosecutor before entering politics.

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