Absolute Poker, one of the three online poker sites with domains and accounts seized by the U.S. Department of Justice is insisting the seizure of their domain name is illegal and refuses to agree with the federal government to return player’s money.
PokerStars was the first of the three online poker sites to begin processing payment withdrawals to its U.S. customers following an agreement with the federal government to return its ".com" domain.
Despite a similar agreement with authorities to reclaim its domain name Full Tilt Poker has not been as forthcoming and no date has been set for returning cash from accounts to U.S. players.
The third site, Absolute Poker has been encouraged by the Government of Antigua not to accept an agreement with the U.S. Government. The small island nation of Antigua and Barbuda which has licensed online poker rooms for years is appealing to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to look into the recent seizure of online poker domain names and indictments handed down by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Antigua’s position has always been the U.S. laws against online gaming are illegal under WTO law since the U.S. allows gambling for money at casinos across the country and almost every state has some form of legalized gambling. More specifically, it points to the fact that online betting for state-regulated horse racing is allowed in the U.S.
