Hmm, maybe I should think twice before running Party Poker ads on this blog. Er, so far it has been ad in the singular, not plural (only put up one banner in one post). Must admit that I do have mixed emotions about these Poker ads, but then I already explained in detail that there are readers of this blog outside the United States and for many of them, it is quite legal to partake.

Since they can’t shut these online casinos down, US law enforcement officials have tried a new strategy: threatening companies that run ads for online casinos. Many radio, television and outdoor advertising companies have been receiving stern notices suggesting that they could get into legal trouble for running these ads.

Techdirt is referring to the following article:

But aiding and abetting has a second element — whether the broadcaster is furthering the commission of a crime, said Jennifer S. Granick, the executive director for the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford University Law School.

Ms. Granick said case law suggested this might be hard for the government to prove; television and radio audiences are so broad that many, if not most, of the people watching or listening to an advertisement are not going to place a bet over the Internet. “It’s not at all clear that they’re breaking the law,” Ms. Granick said, noting that the broadcasters could be seen as merely disseminating information. “There’s strong reason to think the opposite because they are broadcasting to a general audience.”

Aiding and abetting gamblers by running online gambling ads on an internet website seems like a huge stretch. As long as Yahoo and Google continue to take these ads, I’m not going to worry about it. Frankly, I’m fully expecting them to change their position with online gambling and eventually let Nevada and the indian casinos start running variations on online gambling. The door has already been opened a crack with wireless gambling being approved in Nevada.

Prohibition has already been tried — it doesn’t work. Let’s figure out how to monetize it, tax it, and use that money for roads, schools and other benefits rather than let that money go abroad.

• Mobile poker, slots and roulette coming to Venetian in 2006 or 2007
• 60 Minutes special focuses on internet gambling
• U.S officially closes the sports … book on BetOnSports
• Bush signs anti-gambling legislation
• Some soldiers are getting hooked on military run slot machines
• Google, Yahoo and Microsoft ante up $31.5 million in fines for promoting online gambling