A screenshot of the Desert Rose Bingo website.
The federal government filed suit against the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel on Wednesday, accusing the small California tribe of violating federal law with its online gaming operation. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 outlaws Internet gaming unless it is conducted pursuant to a Class III gaming compact or under state law. The complaint says the tribe's Desert Rose Bingo, which went online last month, doesn't comply with the law. "Account holders who place bets or wagers through Desert Rose Bingo from locations that are outside Iipay Indian Lands are participating in 'unlawful Internet gambling,'" the U.S. Attorney's Office in Southern California wrote in the complaint posted by Turtle Talk. The state is already suing the tribe in hopes of shutting down the site. A federal judge heard arguments in that case yesterday. Get the Story:
Indian bingo site in crosshairs of state (The San Diego Union-Tribune 12/5)
Tribal sovereignty (and revenue source) threatened? (The San Diego Reader 12/4)
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lawsuit over online bingo (11/26)
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