CA WOMAN RACKS UP INTERNET CASINO BILLS - STIFFS MASTERCARD!
PlayStar's subsidiary BankEngine may have a unique solution to this problem with their card scrubbing technology. It's kind of unfortunate you have people of this caliber purposefully racking up debt on credit cards under a ruse that gambling on the Internet is illegal in CA. It's too bad the State of California didn't prosecute Cynthia Haynes from Marin County of breaking state law if one exists. My Providian Web Card VISA just jumped to 20% to help pay for this lady's misdeeds and as a result, Providian Bank just lost me as a customer. Unfortunately, Indian and other land-based casinos will likely help pay for this as well.
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (AP) -- MasterCard International issued
new rules for using its cards at Internet casinos to settle a lawsuit
over the collection gambling debts run up by a California woman.
MasterCard will now require Internet casinos that use its cards to
ask gamblers where they live and keep a record of the
information. The company will also require the sites to post notices stating that Internet gambling
is illegal in California and other states.
MasterCard said in a statement that it recognizes the evolving issues relating to online gambling
and that its new rules ''reflect the global characteristics of the Internet.''
The settlement, reached Friday, is the result of a lawsuit and countersuit last year between
Cynthia Haines of Marin County and Providian National Bank, MasterCard and Visa.
Haines used about 12 credit card to rack up $70,000 in online gambling debts and was sued by
San Francisco-based Providian for not paying her bills. She countersued Providian, MasterCard,
Visa and about 50 Internet casinos.
Haines sought to bar the credit card companies and their issuing banks from collecting gambling
debts owed by California consumers because gambling is illegal in the state and online wagering
is illegal in the United States.
That request was not included in Friday's settlement, but the state Court of Appeal said in May
that California has a ''strong, long-standing'' policy against the enforcement of civil claims to
recover gambling debts.
As for the more than $30,000 Haines owed MasterCard and its issuing banks, an undisclosed
settlement has been reached, according to her lawyer, Ira Rothken. He said his client is ''very
pleased'' with the deal.
''This case is not about my client trying to get away with something,'' Rothken said. ''The greater
evil is credit card companies and their affiliates making money off of illegal gambling.''
A case is still pending for the money owed to Providian and Visa. Rothken said a trial date for
those debts is set for October.
''When a consumer incurs credit card debt, they should pay it back,'' Providian spokeswoman
Laurie Cole told the San Francisco Examiner.
A spokeswoman for Visa did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press. |
