Minnesota ISPs Decide Not To Respond 

Late in April 2009 the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED) working under the Minnesota Department of Public Safety had ordered 11 Internet service providers (ISPs) to block off about 200 online gambling websites so that residents of the state would not be able to access them. The time required for the ISPs to carry out these instructions has expired. The ISPs have neither carried out the instructions nor have responded to the AGED in any way. 

iMEGA, which has independently filed a lawsuit against the state of Minnesota in this connection, had immediately informed the concerned ISPs not to comply with the order. Later iMEGA Chairman Joe Brennan spoke to several of the ISPs personally and was told by each of them that it was their opinion that the AGED order lacked jurisdiction under the Wire Act of 1961. 

It now appears that John Willems, enforcement director of AGED, is of the view that his actions had been taken in haste, though obviously that is not his department’s official stand. The fact remains that many of the online gambling operators in the list provided by AGED did not service the American online gambling industry. Technical experts have opined that even if the ISPs had imposed filters as directed, the Minnesota consumers who were really interested in online gambling would have been able to find a way around them. It is these reasons, along with uncertain legal ground, that has prompted the Attorney General of Minnesota not to force the issue for the present. The Attorney General's office is also discussing the matter with the legal team of iMEGA in order to arrive at an out of court solution.