Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Communist China will begin "purifying" the cyber environment, taking a lead
from US legislators and law enforcement officials. They will begin cracking
down severely on internet gambling activity. "The prevalence of online
gaming has ruined the online environment and harmed young people's growth,
which runs against the policy of building a harmonious society," said a
circular jointly issued by the ministry of public security, the Ministry of
Culture, the Ministry of Information Industry and the state press and
publication administration. China's US counterpart, Republican Jon Kyl of
Arizona agrees: "A professor once appropriately likened Internet gambling to
cocaine use. Internet gambling's characteristics are unique, because: online
players can gamble 24 hours a day from the comfort of their home; leading to
possible addiction and, in turn, to bankruptcy, crime, and suicide."
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Zhejiang are key places to be targeted
during the three-month-long drive, it said, adding the government should
clamp down on online games that involve gambling and online betting. It said
local government departments should strictly supervise online game service
providers who are not allowed to exchange "virtual money" with real
currencies or properties, or use it to launder money. China's police busted
a total of 347,000 gambling cases involving 1.099 million people last year
and retrieved 3.56 billion yuan (USD 445 million), according to official
statistics. China follows the US lead. In October 2006, a handful of
politicians attached a measure to restrict online gambling to a port
security bill. This bill was later signed into law, placing the burden of
monitoring internet gambling transactions on the banks. An opinion appearing
in the American Politics Journal shows how closely China's position mimics
that of the US government's stance. "Jon Kyl (who chairs the Subcommittee on
Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security) voted to secretly monitor
MILLIONS of Americans who we KNOW must all be secretly helping Al-Queda (but
are allowing KNOWN terrorists to enter US borders due to inept leadership).
And, we sure are grateful for Jon Kyl's Family Values of banning Internet
gambling as we allow state lottery and casino gambling all over the U.S."
Kyl was also spearheading efforts to build a wall between Mexico and the
United States, much like the Great Wall of China.