Does Congress Have an Insider Trading Problem?
It wasn’t until after the Great Depression was underway in the 1930s that any meaningful regulation of Wall Street shenanigans came along, and it took another eight decades for Capitol Hill to regulate its improprieties (after intense public pressure). “For many, many years there was kind of a full embracing of the idea that insider trading was…
Read MoreMeet lawyer Jeff Ifrah, the Buffalo native helping the gambling industry form its future
Attorney Jeff Ifrah had never worked as hard to pick up a client in his 28-year legal career. Finally, during a trip home to Western New York to visit family, he drove to Niagara Falls and barged into the Seneca Gaming Corp. offices to once more try to convince management to set up sports betting…
Read MoreCoinbase Hire Signals Hot Market for Digital Currency Lawyers
That’s exactly what Jeff Ifrah, the founder of Ifrah Law PLLC who specializes in cryptocurrency and blockchain, wants to see. “In order to succeed, they need to bring on talent like former federal judges. They can’t afford the continued reputation of operating in the shadows like some sort of gray market,” Ifrah said. Despite digital…
Read MoreApple Faces Lawsuit Over Loot Boxes
In February, the Eastern District Court of North Carolina dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Epic Games misled consumers about the loot boxes in its online shooter game Fortnite. “Courts have already ruled in related cases that virtual loot is not the functional equivalent of real money and this cannot be the basis for satisfying consideration…
Read MorePublicly Traded Companies Are Snapshot Into Gaming’s Future
Yet, despite that advantage, online gambling operators with big plans require the kind of help the public markets can provide, namely lots of cash. “For most business-to-consumer online gambling companies, the major costs of mobile marketing, customer acquisition and dealing with legislative and regulatory issues on a state-by-state basis are daunting. It’s actually made for…
Read MoreTwo Years After Supreme Court Ruling, Optimism Abounds For U.S. Sports Betting
The expansion of not only sports betting but internet gambling is expected to surge as legislatures reconvene after states reopen and lawmakers desperately search for new sources of revenue. “My biggest concern going forward, particularly in these very tough fiscal times, is that legislatures are going to be tempted to kill the golden goose through…
Read MoreJim Trusty: Michael Flynn prosecution offers these important lessons on FBI, fairness and the rule of law
Whatever your thoughts are about Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the slow unraveling of his case holds some deeper lessons than simply “he never should have been charged.” Notes belatedly turned over to Flynn’s aggressive attorney include some telling nuggets of how Jim Comey’s FBI conducted itself. “What is our goal,” the notes read, “Truth/Admission or to get him to…
Read MoreMobile location data tracking tools raise privacy questions amid COVID-19
In response to the ongoing outbreak, mobile advertising and tech firms are offering up their geolocation data to track the spread of the virus and the adoption of social distancing. Now, government officials at the federal, state and local level are hoping to use this data to better understand current public behavior, according to The…
Read MoreOnline Gambling Stands Ready as Casinos Close- WSJ
With casinos closed and many Americans confined to home, the online gambling industry is seeking to expand in the U.S. An industry trade group, iDevelopment & Economic Association, is pushing states to allow online casino games to replace disappearing revenue from temporarily closed casinos, including exploring how governors can use wide emergency powers to quickly…
Read MoreFeatured columnist Jeff Ifrah advocates for legal online gaming in Ohio
Basketball fans across Ohio are gearing up for the start of the 2020 NCAA Tournament coming to Dayton and Cleveland next month. Fans are getting ready to fill out their March Madness brackets to bet on their favorite teams. Over a dozen states will reap the benefits of legal sports betting this year, including Ohio’s…
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