06 February 2023, Monday, 11:55 859

United States watching fate of 1xBet in Ukraine, accusing the bookmaker of sponsoring Internet piracy

Editor: Roman Vaniyan

Читати українською Читать на русском

Share:
Copied

The United States accused Russian bookmaker 1xBet of causing losses to the American film industry by advertising support for pirate websites that steal the intellectual property of American film producers.

A recent report by the Motion Picture Association of America, whose members include Walt Disney Studios, Netflix, Paramount Pictures Corporation, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and other companies, it is noted that the U.S. economy loses about USD 30 billion annually in lost profits due to pirated websites. In addition to the pirate sites themselves and illegal streaming video hosting services, losses to the film industry are also caused by hosting providers and advertisers who place their advertisements on pirate sites. Moreover, the responsibility of the latter for the development of the piracy market in the world is called the greatest in the Association, given the fact that pirate sites exist for the sake of receiving income from advertising on the illegal broadcasting of films and TV series.

The Digital Citizens Alliance estimates that pirate websites generate about USD 1.34 billion a year in advertising revenue. At the same time, the Association of Cinematographers of the United States separately notes in the report that a significant share of this income is provided by the Russian bookmaker 1xBet, which is based in Cyprus. And the most active ad network that advertises on pirate sites is Propeller Ads, which is also based in Cyprus and controlled by Russians.

In particular, because of this, the American media closely monitor the activities of 1xBet in the world and in Ukraine. So, the American publication Casino.org published an article entitled 1xBet Declared Bankrupt by European Court, in which it is reported that the Supreme Court of the Netherlands declared 1xBet bankrupt, which did not pay out to defrauded players their winnings in the amount of at least EUR 1 million.

In the publication, the publication notes that "the data indicates that 1xBet is connected to Putin" and "uses the popularity of sports betting to pump money to the Russian regime."

It is reported that the founders of 1xBet Roman Semiokhin, Dmytro Kazorin and Serhii Karshkov are wanted in Russia for operating in the country without a license. However, in the absence of physical evidence to support this claim, it is entirely possible that these claims are nothing more than tricks and could be just a veil hiding the true nature of the company's relationship with Moscow, Casino.org notes.

Besides, the publication mentions the attempt of a Russian bookmaker to enter the Ukrainian market in 2022 in the context of the fact that a bookmaker that does not pay out winnings to players may have another purpose in Ukraine during the war. Journalists drew attention to the fears of the Ukrainian regulator of gambling and lotteries regarding the fact that 1xBet is illegally extracting user data through shell platforms MelBet, PointLoto, FanSport, and BetWinner.

"This week, Ukraine announced that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign a decree imposing sanctions on 1xBet. The decree will reportedly approve 15 of the 24 sanctions provided for in the law. Among them are the blocking of all assets of 1xBet companies in Ukraine, a ban on withdrawing capital outside of Ukraine, restrictions on trade operations within the country, etc.,” American media write.