UMass Upset Over Online Gambling Site

October 16, 2007

The University of Massachusetts is understandably upset over an online gambling web site that uses the university’s name and logo in an obvious attempt to give the site credibility by trading on the school’s good reputation. School officials are sending a cease and desist demand to the online gambling site’s operators, as the school is not affiliated with the site in any way.

The online gambling site uses the school’s information to plug the online casino, going as far as showing the Minuteman athletic logo and has the Minuteman peering over stacks of cash, poker chips, etc. It even uses the school’s trademarked UMass-Amherst lettering. The school is outraged that the online gambling site would stoop to such levels.

The school says that as the name and logo are university property and cannot be used without their express permission, the online gambling site is breaking the law. They say that at no time did they, or would they ever, condone an online gambling site. The site is seemingly run by both students and recent alumni of the school, and Brett Berdick, the site moderator says that there are lots of schools that have similar online gambling sites and they’ve “never gotten any grief over it.”

The school says that they are not looking to prosecute anyone, but they want the site taken down. The site has links to other online casinos, as well as information about on and off campus poker tournaments. The school says that unless they are for a charity’s benefit, those tournaments are illegal as well – and are not permitted on school grounds.

The school says that they are more concerned with educating students with the dangers of online gambling and how it can lead to addiction, than they are in prosecuting the owners of the site.
 

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