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New Cyber Gambling Technologies Leave Regulators in No- Man’s- Land New technologies in cyber gambling have sparked confusion among Indian casino operators and regulatory agencies in California. Cyber gambling machines such as slot machines, which are classified as Class II gambling instruments, are the cash cows of the Indian casino industry. Cyber gambling machine users lose money fast, and the machines can be used by players of every socioeconomic class since each game is relatively cheap. In order to protect residents, California limits the number of Class 2 cyber gambling machines the tribes may operate. Other, slower- paced games, such as bingo, are not regulated with such specificity. However, new advances in cyber gambling have created bingo machines that resemble their slot machine cousins in speed of game and profitability, creating confusion in the California gambling regulatory agency’s ability to categorize these cyber gambling machines.
The California Tribal Business Alliance recently wrote a letter to California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger warning him of the controversy. An excerpt from the letter reads as follows: "Tribes operating under the compact have a powerful incentive to operate devices that push and may exceed the definition of a Class 2 games to avoid revenue share payments, increase the number of machines beyond those authorized . . . and avoid the mitigation of environmental impacts and other protections afforded by the compacts." The debate may be laid to rest for once and for all once the US Department of Justice and the National Indian Gaming Commission finish drafting a new set of criteria for assigning machines to a regulatory class. These government agencies began to write the new list upon a request from Congress. |