DOJ Gets Millions from Internet Giants

Due to pressure from the United States Department of Justice, Internet giants Microsoft, Google and Yahoo all stopped running ads for online casinos in 2004. But that wasn’t good enough for the badasses over at the DOJ. It was recently announced that the three companies were paying a total of $31.5 million to clear up charges that they “aided and abetted” illegal gambling with their now-defunct advertising campaigns.

THAT’LL TEACH ‘EM

While the companies didn’t contest or admit to the charges, they still had to throw out some chump change to make it go away. Maybe the U.S. is trying to scrape enough money together to pay off that lawsuit with Antigua (which you can read about by scrolling down a few articles).

Yahoo will pay the government $3 million, and another $4.5 million will go towards public-service ads aimed at those college-age and younger (reminding them that online gambling doesn’t sit well with Dubyah).

Google gets off the lightest, having to pay out only $3 million.

And then there’s Microsoft. They will pay out a total of $21 million, with $4.5 million going towards the government. Another $7.5 million will go to the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the remaining $9 million will go towards public-service ads.

If they really wanted to punish Microsoft, they’d fine them $10 for every time that someone has to return an Xbox for repairs. They’d be filing for Chapter 11 in a matter of weeks.
WALT DISNEY IS THAWING OUT

In 2003, the Disney Channel was also forced to pay out millions of dollars due to their advertising of gambling companies. No doubt, this might ultimately shave a week or two off of Walt Disney’s freezing process.

The same thing happened to The Sporting News in 2006, with a total payout of $7.2 million, although I don’t think any of their founders are in a cryogenic tube.

WHAT’S THE POINT?

Of course, I have to wonder what the DOJ is looking to accomplish with all of this? The companies that are being fined are worth billions of dollars, so a few million here or there is just a drop in the bucket. I suppose it’s mostly designed to embarrass them with their stockholders and make the DOJ look good at the same time.

Oh, and protect the American people. Yeah, I almost forgot about that one.

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DOJ Gets Millions from Internet Giants