Oct. 31

Oct. 31

The News & Observer of Raleigh on state video gaming:

As the video gaming industry proceeds to challenge North Carolina’s latest ban on video and Internet-based sweepstakes games in court, the state should stick by its legal guns. The industry’s contention that the ban violates free speech seems preposterous, because this isn’t really an issue of speech. At bottom, it’s about gambling. The state has no right to regulate that? Of course it does.

The market for the video games was believed to be at its peak last year, with annual revenues estimated by some at $500 million to $1 billion a year. That’s big money for an industry to lose, which is why the gaming folks have tried to get past previous efforts to limit them, by repackaging their games and with other maneuvers. Even then, gamblers found ways to play — and to put their families at risk in the process.

The state has a right to protect citizens, and it’s doing so now in the state Court of Appeals. It should fight on.