The North Carolina General Assembly banned internet sweepstakes more than four years ago. The North Carolina Supreme Court upheld that ban more than two years ago. A few months later that court struck down excessive municipal privilege license taxes on these businesses. Last year the General Assembly eliminated nearly all municipal privilege licenses, including […]
Posts Tagged ‘internet sweepstakes’
Internet Sweepstakes, One Year Later
Thursday, January 9th, 2014Just over a year ago the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of G.S. 14-306.4, the law that was intended to ban all video and internet sweepstakes parlors. My colleagues and I blogged about the ruling here, here, and here, predicting that the court’s decision would not eliminate the state’s internet sweepstakes industry entirely. […]
NC Supreme Court Strikes Down Lumberton’s Tax on Video Sweepstakes
Thursday, March 14th, 2013Were I a gambler, I would not have bet on this result. No, I don’t mean Duke’s glorious trouncing of the Tar Heels on Saturday night. I mean last Friday’s surprising ruling from the North Carolina Supreme Court that Lumberton’s privilege license taxes on video sweepstakes were unconstitutionally high and therefore unenforceable. As a result, […]
What’s Next for Video Sweepstakes?
Thursday, January 17th, 2013It took more than two years, but the ban on video sweepstakes that was originally scheduled to take effect in December 2010 is finally enforceable. The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled on December 14, 2012, that the ban did not violate the sweepstakes operators’ free speech rights under the First Amendment. Appellate court rulings become […]
“Bah, Humbug” Gamers Say: Video Sweepstakes Statute Upheld
Wednesday, December 19th, 2012If you are looking for a last-minute holiday gift for someone at this time of year, you may want to forego purchasing your friend or relative a gift card at the local video sweepstakes operation (VSO). That gift card may not be worth so much in the new year, if law enforcement personnel in North […]
Tax Day at the N.C. Court of Appeals (Part 1)
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012[Update: In 2013 the Court of Appeals reversed its opinion in the Fayetteville case discussed below based on a related N.C. Supreme Court opinion. See this blog post for more details.] The N.C. Court of Appeals celebrated tax day a few weeks later than the rest of us: on Tuesday, the judges released two interesting decisions involving local […]
Land Use Regulation of Internet Sweepstakes Cafes
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012Regulating video gaming and gambling of one sort or another has vexed state and local governments in North Carolina for the better part of two decades. A recent court opinion held the current version of the state’s ban on internet sweepstakes to be unconstitutional, violating First Amendment rights to free speech. A second case held […]
City Wins Round Two in Internet Sweepstakes Tax Case – But the Fight Continues
Friday, March 2nd, 2012[Update: In 2013 the N.C. Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals decision discussed below. See this blog post for more details.] In the first of three decisions we are expecting on internet sweepstakes, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the City of Lumberton and its authority to levy substantial privilege license […]
How Would an Internet Sweepstakes Ban Affect City Privilege License Taxes?
Thursday, June 24th, 2010[Update: The ban on internet sweepstakes became law when Gov. Perdue signed H.B. 80 on July 20. The ban was upheld by the N.C. Supreme Court in late 2012. See this blog post for more details. ] The General Assembly moved closer to banning internet sweepstakes on Monday when the Senate voted 47-1 in favor of H.B. […]
Internet Sweepstakes Tax Challenged in Federal Court
Thursday, April 29th, 2010Given the gaming industry’s aggressive litigation strategy against criminal sanctions, it seemed only a matter of time before internet sweepstakes operators responded similarly to the growing number of municipal privilege license taxes imposed on their businesses. That time has arrived. In late April lawyers for the “Mt. Airy Business Center” filed a complaint in federal court alleging that the city of Kannapolis violated […]
Internet Sweepstakes Tax Update
Friday, March 12th, 2010[Update: The N.C. Supreme Court issued important ruling on video sweepstakes in 2012 and 2013. See this post and this post for more details.] Internet sweepstakes operations have continued to mushroom across the state. A recent newspaper article identified eight stand-alone internet sweepstakes parlors in Durham alone. If true, then Durham now offers twice as many […]