Three of the biggest names on the internet have agreed to a huge internet gambling settlement after being sued by a Missouri prosecutor.
Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo are paying more than 31-million dollars to resolve claims they promoted illegal gambling. The federal prosecutor for eastern Missouri, Catherine Hanaway, says the settlement should put a dent in the internet gambling business because it cuts off a major part of the advertising for gambling sites.
She says the federal government started prosecuting companies in 1998 for accepting advertising for illegal internet gambling. Settlements with these three companies and with other companies earlier total more than 70-million dollars.
More than 13-million dollars of the 31 million dollar settlement will be spent on public service advertising by Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo on their sites, informing visitors online gambling is illegal under federal law and illegal in most, if not all, states. Hanaway says college-age or younger people will be the main focus of the advertising campaign.
The companies do not contest…or admit…getting payments from on-line gambling businesses. Han away says civil settlements such as these are carefully worded to avoid further litigation.
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