South Carolina AG says Internet gambling games illegal

Monday, Jan. 8, 2001 | 3:33 a.m.

Players can put money into the "Touch Easy Keno" machines to log onto the Internet - or to play a game where a computer picks numbers and winnings are paid back to them. They are not exempt from the law that banned video gambling in July, Condon said.

The Keno games were in at least two Li'l Cricket convenience stores in Spartanburg, the Herald-Journal of Spartanburg reported recently.

Wallace Cheves, vice president of Greenville-based First Link Inc. that owns the machines, said they were being tested in Spartanburg, Greenville, Myrtle Beach and Rock Hill. They are no different than grocery store or fast-food giveaways, he said.

"We're operating a completely legal Internet sweepstakes," Cheves said. "The consumer is only allowed to purchase Internet time as they would purchase a Coke or a Mars bar in a sweepstakes."

The difference is that consumers get to keep the candy bar or hamburger in a promotional sweepstakes, but get nothing tangible from the Internet game, said state Sen. John Hawkins, R-Spartanburg.

Hawkins last month asked the State Law Enforcement Division to investigate.

"I think this is a very positive step," Hawkins said. The attorney general, he said, "is identifying these new machines for what they are, the rebirth of video gambling."

A woman who answered the phone Monday at Li'l Cricket's corporate headquarters in Spartanburg said no one was available to comment. She would not give her name.

First Link, which has been in business a little more than a year, is testing the machines in 10 different places in Spartanburg, Greenville, Myrtle Beach and Rock Hill, Cheves said.

The kiosks are meant to give people on the go a chance to check their e-mail or surf the Net, Cheves said. Customers can buy a card for 100 minutes of Internet time for $20. The card can be used for Internet minutes even if the customer does not win the sweepstakes.

Condon said the Internet machines are slipping through a 1999 amendment to a 1942 law that prohibits gambling where alcohol is sold. That amendment exempts promotions and sweepstakes used by fast-food and grocery chains.

The video gambling industry likely knew all along that it could fall back on the amendment, if the industry were banned, Condon said. Hawkins said he would introduce legislation to clarify the issue and close any loopholes.

Condon also called on SLED to start making arrests. SLED spokesman Hugh Munn said the agency still was investigating.