Moratorium on Internet gaming machines gets preliminary OK
By JIM FAILE
Hartsville City Council gave unanimous preliminary approval Monday to an ordinance for a 180-day moratorium on Internet simulated gambling machines in businesses in the city.
The moratorium will not become effective until the measure receives final approval when it comes up for second reading. That could come when council holds its monthly work session on March 6, City Manager Natalie Zeigler said.
City officials have received a number of requests and inquiries in recent weeks from individuals interested in opening sweepstakes Internet cafes in the city, according to Zeigler.
Some stores already have the machines, Zeigler said. The moratorium will not affect those machines, she said.
Officials say the moratorium will allow time for the city planning commission to look into the issue further and for officials to see if the Legislature has any intention of addressing the issue at the state level.
Some say the machines violate South Carolina’s ban on video gambling. Others say the new machines are legal.
More of the machines are starting to appear in convenience stores, restaurants and bars around the state.
The machines are not the same as the old video poker machines outlawed by the state. The new machines use new technology and the Internet.
Some say loopholes in current state law allow the machines, and several magistrate courts around the state have ruled that the machines are legal.
In those cases, the courts said that the machines fell under an exception in existing state law that allows their use.
According to those rulings, that exception allows the use of the machines if they are used for game promotions including contests, games of chance or sweepstakes in which the elements of chance and prizes are present and the game promotion is offered in connection with the sale, promotion or advertisement of a consumer product or service or to enhance the brand or image of a supplier of consumer products or services.
Also, there must be no purchase payment, entry fee or proof of purchase required as a condition of entering the game promotion or receiving a prize, according to the rulings.
And all materials advertising the game promotion clearly disclose that no purchase or payment is necessary to enter and provide details on the free method of participation, according to the rulings.
In each case, the courts noted that the rulings pertained only to the particular machines that were reviewed and were in no way intended to be an endorsement of video gambling and should not be construed as an endorsement.
The ordinance council is considering is modeled closely after an ordinance Charleston officials are considering for a moratorium there.
Council will have to hold a public hearing on the ordinance before it can give it final approval.