Three native gambling websites taken offline

By Steve Buist/Joan Walters
The Hamilton Spectator

Three Internet sites associated with online gaming at Six Nations are no longer in operation.

A Spectator investigative report Monday revealed that a company listed as the operator of computer servers on the reserve hosts gaming sites that include Absolute Poker, one of the world's most popular Internet poker destinations.

It's not clear if the sites have been disabled temporarily or permanently. The sites are for the company SixNet and two licensing agencies, Six Nations Internet Gaming Regulatory Body and the Haldimand Mohocks and Allies Gaming Commission

The Spectator's investigation showed the federal government has awarded more than $1.5 million in contracts this year to SixNet.

The Six Nations regulatory body and the Haldimand Mohocks group have been identified as licensing agencies for online gambling sites. SixNet and the two licensing groups list their address as the headquarters of the Grand River Enterprises cigarette factory in Ohsweken.

On one Absolute Poker web page, the logo formerly indicating Six Nations Internet Gaming Regulatory Body as the licensing agency has been replaced with the logo of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.

The Kahnawake commission, located on the Kahnawake reserve south of Montreal, is considered one of the world's largest hosts of online gaming sites.

On Monday, the U.S. government passed legislation prohibiting the use of credit cards, cheques and electronic fund transfers for online gaming. It is part of the American government's ongoing attempts to criminalize Internet betting, a campaign which has been focused on gaming companies based offshore in the Caribbean or Central America.