California state attorney attacks online bingo site
Kamala Harris files lawsuit against the Santa Ysabel tribe for launching real-money bingo site DesertRoseBingo.com to players in the state
The future of California real-money bingo site DesertRoseBingo.com has been thrown into doubt after the state’s attorney general filed a lawsuit seeking to temporarily shut the it down.
Earlier this month the San Diego-based Santa Ysabel tribe launched DesertRoseBingo.com site to players over the age of 18 and located in the state, with platform partner Great Luck.
But attorney general Kamala Harris has filed a lawsuit with the US District Court for the Southern District of California, claiming the site breaches state and federal law.
Harris says the site contravenes the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA 2006), the Indian Regulatory Gaming Act (IRGA) and the gaming compact the tribe signed with the state in 2003.
The suit alleges that the site is accessible by players outside of its tribal lands, and that there are not sufficient geolocation, age verification, and payment processing protocols in place.
“The state’s investigators opened an account and participated in the tribe’s internet gambling from off the tribe’s Indian lands,” the suit states.
On the DesertRoseBingo.com site Santa Ysabel claims the site is accessible to all players in California, and that the site uses a “proxy” to ensure all games take place on its tribal lands even if players are located elsewhere in the state.
The suit also claims that the state contacted the Santa Ysabel tribe in July when it first revealed plans to launch its real-money PrivateTable.com poker site later in the year.
The state said it sent the tribe a letter on 14 July requesting to meet to discuss its plans for internet gaming in the state, including online bingo, and whether it would be in breach of the compact.
The suit claims in a letter dated 17 July the tribe “rejected” the state’s request to meet, but said it “intended to offer only online poker and not internet bingo, conducted from servers located on tribal lands”.
In its letter, Santa Ysabel said that internet gambling “was not covered by the compact” and that it had “no intention of discussing” federal statutes, including the IGRA and UIGEA, the suit claims.
In her summary, Harris asked for the court to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctions to close the site down.
The lawsuit is scheduled to be heard on 4 December in front of Judge Anthony Battaglia.