Galanis: Web Shops Are Legal

Wed, Jan 30th 2013, 11:00 AM

Vote "Yes" coordinator Phillip Galanis said yesterday web shops are legal entities and should remain open despite Bahamians' overwhelming "no" vote in Monday's gaming referendum. Mr Galanis said the web shop owners are awaiting the government’s decision and that will determine how they will proceed. “This was a very important issue to the country and we are disappointed on how it turned out. But we fully maintain that web shops are legal entities that were licensed by the government. They should continue to operate and remain open despite the fact that they are not being taxed or regulated,” he said.

“I have not seen for myself but I think the web shops are still open. I will say this there is no reason for them to close. They are legal entities. The vote yesterday means Bahamian people do no want the businesses to be taxed or regulated. The Bahamian people lost yesterday because the revenue that could have been made by the government will still be made and the web shops can still operate as they were.” Some web operators blamed Monday’s loss at the polls on a “poorly managed and run campaign.” However Mr Galanis said he ran a good clean campaign and “Vote no” won because many people decided to stay home.

He said:” We think we ran a good campaign. In fact, several of the web shop operators called me to commend me on a job well done despite the results. Some of them might have said something but we did not hear them. I think we lost because of a low voter turnout. Many people stayed home. There may have been a level of uncertainty and a degree of confusion on why they were asked to vote yes or no. I think if all the supporters turned up the outcome would have been different.” Mr Galanis said the 3,000 web shop employees were concerned about their future and what their next move will be.

Web Shop Owners Craig Flowers, FML, and Sebas Bastian, Island Luck, in earlier interviews, both said they would shut down their operations if Bahamians voted no. However, Mr Bastian said he would not shut down his website. “We would close down the physical stores themselves but the website will basically remain on through the mere fact that the website is not illegal. It is licensed by the Isle of Man, the servers are located in the Isle of Man, and I have a gaming license to operate islandluck.com,” Mr Bastian said. “It has zero to do with the Bahamas. It is just accessed by Bahamians from the Bahamas, so that makes my part of that business, perfectly legal.” Mr Bastian confirmed he has 37 outlets with 437 employees, about 87 mobile PDAs who are paid on commission, and 138 franchises where panels are in various bars and convenience stores – which have their own employees.

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