Earlier this month, leading Internet portal Google publicly released the new software development kit (SDK) for its innovative new Google Cast product, along with a stern warning: Google Cast, and all apps developed for use therein, will adhere to a strict “No” policy regarding any and all perceived gambling forms, even those with significant skill elements such as online poker.
Google Cast, in case you haven’t been keeping track, is a hybrid technology designed to produce “multi-screen experiences,” connecting such devices as hi-res TVs to the internet via an intermediary connection — typically a smart phone or tablet. An app that runs on the phone or tablet helps produce additional content for the larger-screened device, hence the “multi-screen experience” selling line. Google Cast currently offers both Android and iOS support.
It’s an interesting concept, with plenty of high-end tech appeal, but Google is blocking the door towards all sorts of activities that aren’t universally legal, be it online gambling, pornography, sales of online drugs, impersonation and deceptive practices, even the downloading and transference of bootleg or stolen copyrighted material. It’s a broad, broad sweep.
One has to dig deeper into the legal frameworks surrounding Google Cast’s rollout to really understand why. Google Cast’s preemptive blocking of online gambling has been touched on just lightly within the online gambling world, likely due to a lack of understanding of what all was involved. Igaming.org is one of only a tiny handful of outlets to touch on the topic, but even that piece focuses solely on the “what” and lacks sorely in explaining that “why”.
So here’s the why. There are two clear reasons why Google must adhere to the ultra-conservative approach, banning… well… all the fun things on the ‘net from the new platform. First among these is the ultimate lack of control by Google itself over the mobility that the smart devices offer: That the devices themselves bring the internet anywhere is both a blessing and a curse.
Since Google Cast is, in essence, a relay, it is quite possible that the relay itself could be manipulated in such a way as to allow illegal activities to be funneled through the smart-device Google Cast apps that are now being developed. That is, someone could design an app that brings in porn or online gambling or something else that is illegal somewhere, and since it’s within the app, it would be running relatively invisible to Google Cast… and to Google itself.
That in turn leads to the second reason: If Google simply threw open the barn door and allowed Google Cast app developers to design work-around apps, then whenever they were found being used in a jurisdiction such as Washinton State Washington State (where the playing of online poker is a felony), then Google itself could be opened to all sorts of contributory charges regarding those activities.
That’s why Google has to opt for a “most restrictive” policy regarding these apps; Google Cast’s own mobility opens up an avenue of potential abuse. Even with that, by far the likeliest abuses to occur are going to be with the illegal downloading of intellectual property – movies, music and so on. If Google has to block that, the company’s not going to allow potentially more severe and illegal-somewhere activities to fly through unrestricted.
The Google Cast clampdown is really just a continuation of this “most restrictive” principle. It’s why Yahoo! has a similar policy, and why the eBay-owned PayPal site has a strict anti-gambling policy encompassing the US. It’s all because of the multi-jurisdictional issues.
In truth, it probably won’t matter much in the long run. As a technology bridge, Google Cast doesn’t really do anything new, and online poker players have many other ways to enjoy their games. Market demand is like electricity; it flows through channels of least resistance. For its own reasons, Google’s new interactive ventures can’t be a progressive part of many of the internet’s often-but-not-universally-legal uses. And that’s why Google Cast has said “no” to online gambling.
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