Eliot Spitzer needs killing.

[Matthew X]

ALBANY, N.Y. (August 21, 2002 2:50 p.m. EDT) - New York Attorney General 
Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday that he has settled a case against PayPal to 
stop New Yorkers from using the Internet payment processor to gamble online.

Under the settlement, PayPal will not process payments from New York 
residents to Internet casino sites beginning on Sept. 1 and will pay 
$200,000 to the state for its profits, the cost of investigation and 
penalties.

"This agreement continues the work of my office to enforce the law 
prohibiting illegal gambling, online or off line," Spitzer said. "This case 
shows that we intend to stop any company who facilitates illegal gambling 
transactions."

A PayPal spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 
eBay, the Internet auction site, has said that if its planned acquisition 
of PayPal is successful, the service would no longer be associated with 
online gambling.

PayPal lets buyers and sellers exchange money through e-mail. Buyers make 
payments online through credit cards and bank accounts, and PayPal relays 
the funds to sellers' accounts.

The company's dealing with 260 online gambling merchants has increased as 
more credit card firms have blocked direct payments to Internet gambling 
Web sites, Spitzer said.

In June, Spitzer settled a case with Citibank to block all online gambling 
transactions through credit cards.END
Wonder if he'll end up @stiff.com?