Facebook ventures into online gambling

http://on.ft.com/MgOWtN

by martius • 14 years ago

19 21 14 years ago

on.ft.com

mwilcox• 14 years ago

Only available to registered users..

rizla6• 14 years ago

http://www.dailyhostnews.com/bingo-friendzy-the-worlds-first...

If you don't have access to ft.com (one of the few pay walls that are worth the money)

Bingo friendzy http://www.jackpotjoyfriendzy.com/

tldr; Gamesys Group have released the first play for cash game on the Facebook canvas

edit Added link to the game

aspratley• 14 years ago

If you enter the site via a google search you don't get the paywall just do a search for the title: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Facebook+ventures+into+onl...

s_henry_paulson• 14 years ago

Link to the article that works:

http://www.google.is/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s...

sek3• 14 years ago

They seem kinda desperate with all their recent plans. It is such a shame, they make good money and could really make a difference with more patience.

Online Gambling? What a joke.

rizla6• 14 years ago

Online gambling is a pretty fat market, worth over a billion bucks a year. You say joke, businesses say smart. Essentially turning users into actual profit. And for once we get something back instead of just being a marketing platform

Certainly not expecting Zynga to take this lying down

Sorry, I misread your comment. :redface

alan_cx2• 14 years ago

Why is on line gambling a joke? Its a serious money spinner. Its the one thing, weidro laws aside, facebook have announced that actually makes some sense, and isn't offensive to the privacy folk.

Or are you making strange moral point bout gambling?

rizla6• 14 years ago

I think gambling is one of those dirty sources, for some it'd be like if facebook created a porn section or a dating area. Neither in themselves damaging but still socially awkward

Alternativly maybe he just doesn't see gambling as a big industry.

throwa• 14 years ago

I will move over my comment from here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4349761:

It is such a joke because gambling addiction is in thesame fold as drug addition:

Title: The neurobiology of pathological gambling and drug addiction: an overview and new findings: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2607329/

Before you talk of it being a money spinner, we need to first ask:

a. If Facebook is harming society by this new act of desperation.

B. is Facebook exposing its users to a new habit that could be destructive?

sek3• 14 years ago

All this talk from Zuckerberg, "We don't care about Money", "I wan't to connect people" aso. seems cynic with their recent plans.

I buy that Apple really cares about great products. I don't like how controlling they are with their app store, but at least is makes sense for user experience reasons.

What should i believe about Facebook, do they want to connect people at gambling therapy sessions? How does it improve anything? Funny how Peter Thiel attacks Google for not being a real technology company.

alan_cx2• 14 years ago

Am I right in thinking that Facebook is an American business doing something in another country which is illegal in the US? Internet gambling was banned in the US, right? And that's fine with US authorities? But if a foreign business, like say Megaupload, does something which is illegal in the US, but in a foreign country all hell breaks loose.

So: US company + breaks US law + foreign country = OK Foreign company + breaks US law + foreign country = not OK

Is this not a double standard? I mean, Im still not seen google's torrent search being attacked by the FBI or who ever.

Don't get me wrong here, I don't support laws banning gambling, and I'm all for facebook, or who ever, having gambling operations where they like, but it doesn't sit right give the over all context at all.

Must have missed something, cant imagine US authorities really behaving in such a biased way.

uptown• 14 years ago

I believe the difference between the two is that Facebook is planning to constrain the use of the gambling to countries and users where it is regulated and legal, so no laws will be broken provided those constraints are adhered to. I haven't read a lot about the MU case, but I believe the allegations are that they facilitated copyright infringement with no constraints on geographical location where this infringement took place - so it happened in countries where there are laws prohibiting such activities.

capsule_toy• 14 years ago

Online gambling isn't illegal in the US, but financing it has been illegal since the SAFE Port Act[1] passed. Poker sites were still getting around the provision by hiding the source of transactions through payment processors. The recent shutdown of poker sites to US customers was actually a shutdown of these payment processors used to fund US accounts.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAFE_Port_Act#Internet_gambling...

Marcan• 14 years ago

Am I the only that thinks this is very, very wrong? Basically, indoctrinate from a very young age your future clientele to use your website for day to day activites while making it acceptable for the parents to let their kids use Facebook from a very young age, increasing brand awareness by doing so, then when they're ready BLAM. Give them easy access to these gambling features.

I fear this is a very dangerous move morally for Facebook, and are venturing a lot more into the "evil" category than just "selling your privacy" evil.

marlek• 14 years ago

I believe actions like this can actually drive away regular facebook users. Their need for income is taking them further away from what should be their goal and that's to "be cool again". Naturally, people's interest has been dropping and they need a way to restore it. Gambling is not a way to do it and they can lose much more than they can gain with it.

nookie• 14 years ago

"So... you seem to have a gambling problem"

(during a job/bank loan interview)

Facebook ventures into online gambling

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