Internet Cafe Gambling California
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City Attorney Dennis Herrera negotiates lawsuit settlement that will end operations at “café” that had become magnet for criminal activity
SAN FRANCISCO (Jan. 30, 2014)—City Attorney Dennis Herrera today settled his lawsuit against the proprietors and landlords of Net Stop Business Center, an internet café whose alleged gambling activities corresponded with a massive increase in police calls to its Excelsior location, and Figure 8 Technologies Inc., the software company that supplied the gambling software to Net Stop.
Under the terms of an injunction filed in San Francisco Superior Court this morning, Net Stop’s owners agreed to close its doors within the next 60 days and refrain from operating a similar establishment in San Francisco for five years.
Herrera also announced that Figure 8 has agreed to a court order to cease providing, supporting or maintaining gambling software anywhere in the state of California for five years. Figure 8 has also agreed to pay the City $25,000, and to deactivate its software at all California establishments where it is currently in use.
“We were able to negotiate settlements and tough injunctions against both Net Stop and Figure 8 that abate a neighborhood nuisance in the Excelsior, strike a blow against the criminal activity that has come with it, and will even curb illegal gambling statewide,” said Herrera. “We will move aggressively to protect neighborhoods from anyone who isn’t following the law. I’m grateful to Chief Suhr and the San Francisco Police Department for their efforts to combat the problems at Net Stop, and for building a body of evidence that enabled us to file a strong case. I’m also thankful to Supervisor John Avalos for his leadership and responsiveness to the community.”
“This is a big win for Excelsior residents,” said Avalos, whose District includes the Net Stop location at Mission Street and Excelsior Avenue. “When this establishment closes, people are going to feel safer on the streets and have even greater pride in the neighborhood.”
Herrera’s original lawsuit, filed on Nov. 7, 2013, alleged that Net Stop had violated state and local law by maintaining computerized slot machine games that allow customers to purchase electronic “points” and then redeem their winnings for cash. On December 5, 2013, Herrera amended the complaint to include Figure 8 as a defendant.
The opening of Net Stop corresponded with the beginning of a dramatic increase in criminal activity in the area, according to Herrera’s complaint. In the year prior to its opening, from November 2011 to October 2012, Net Stop’s location was the subject of only two calls for service to the San Francisco Police Department. But in the first year Net Stop was open for business, from November 2012 to October 2013, SFPD responded to Net Stop’s location on no fewer than 202 occasions.
The civil suit details the public nuisance that is created when an illegal gambling operation takes over a neighborhood, reducing the ability of neighbors to feel safe and causing an enormous and unnecessary drain on police resources.
The case is: City and County of San Francisco and People of the State of California v. Thomas Lacey et al, San Francisco Superior Court Case No. 535314, filed Nov. 7, 2013.
Related Documents:
PDF of the Net Stop settlement press kit, including the injunctions agreed to by the owners of Net Stop and Figure 8 (Jan. 30, 2014)
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – They look suspiciously like illegal casinos: Computer cafes where you can take your chances on winning cash. Now, one lawmaker is cracking down, proposing a ban that could wipe them out for good.
Critics call it illegal gambling, but the people running these businesses, which are cropping up all over the Bay Area and the state, claim they are really just internet cafes where customers can choose to play games and win cash.
“I am absolutely satisfied as an attorney that the software program and the business does not in any way violate any California gaming or gambling law, period,” attorney John Weston told KPIX 5 last November.
Weston represents cafes in Oakland, Hayward and San Francisco, as well as the software company that makes the programs they use.
His clients’ winning streak may have run out though, because of a new bill proposed in the legislature this week.
“AB1439 goes after the heart of these illegal internet cafes,” said the bill’s sponsor, newly elected Assemblyman Rudy Salas. “ It says ‘if you’re operating a game that mimics anything like a casino slot machine, that’s illegal.’”
Salas says the cafes are attracting prostitutes and criminals wherever they go, and it’s time to stop them. Already a handful of Bay Area cities are going after the cafes: Hayward will ban the gaming software starting next week; San Francisco is suing a café in the Excelsior to try to shut it down; Oakland city officials will meet next week to talk about putting a moratorium on the cafes.
Internet Cafe Sweepstakes
But Salas says he hopes his bill will be the last word statewide.
Internet Cafe Gambling Florida
“This bill that I introduced is going to make that gray area very crystal clear, black and white,” he said.
Internet Cafe Gambling California
It could be months before the legislation is approved. Until then, local ordinances could certainly pose a threat to these cafes, but it will be up to each city to enforce them. In Ohio, a similar state law was passed. It shut down all of the cafes within a few months.