COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the owners of two Internet sweepstakes cafes who sued Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty were entitled to see evidence collected by undercover police officers investigating illegal gambling. The county prosecutor had argued that it had an absolute ability to deny access to the materials as part of a work product by law enforcement and through attorney-client privilege. But the court, agreeing with the Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals, ruled that while some material could be withheld, the cafe owners had shown a compelling need to see the information as part of their civil action. That need, Justice Sharon Kennedy wrote in the court's 6-1 decision, outweighed the interests of the Cuyahoga County prosecutor to keep that information confidential. J&C and its owners were not indicted. But McGinty's office sent letters to them and owners of other Internet cafes threatening criminal prosecution unless they stopped the sweepstakes offers. In response, J&C closed its cafes. J&C sued, arguing it was not promoting gambling because customers did not have to pay to play the online sweepstakes games, and asking the court to block the prosecutor from trying to apply gaming laws against the business. As part of the suit, J&C's lawyers requested to see materials from law enforcement's Internet cafes investigations. After the court granted J&C's request, the county prosecutor appealed, first to the 8th District and then to the Ohio Supreme Court. In her opinion, Kennedy wrote that prosecutors do not have an absolute privilege that allows them to refuse to turn over materials in discovery. Rather, there must be a balancing of the prosecutor's need for silence against the needs of the suing litigants. "The interests of both parties are significant here, " Justice Kennedy wrote. "The prosecuting attorney must protect the safety of informants and others identified in the investigation, safeguard the integrity of his investigative processes. But [J & C Marketing's] interests in obtaining discovery are also strong, because by issuing the cease-and-desist letter, the prosecuting attorney in effect shut down [the company's] business, even though the business had never even been charged with violating the law." Names of informants and undercover officers could be redacted, the court said, but J&C's interests in reviewing the material were compelling enough that it should be given the information. The court let stand the 8th District's determination that communications, such as emails, between prosecutors and investigating officers were covered by the law enforcement investigatory privilege and the attorney-work-product privilege. Kennedy was joined by Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor and Justices Paul E. Pfeifer, Judith Ann Lanzinger, Judith L. French and William M. O'Neill. Justice Terrence O'Donnell dissented, writing that confidentiality of law enforcement investigations is similar to the need for secrecy in grand jury proceedings. In his view, the standard for obtaining grand jury testimony should apply when a civil litigant seeks discovery of records protected by the law enforcement investigatory privilege.

Open late feeling great photo by: stephen may An internet cafe located at one of the busiest intersections in Key West. At the corner of Duval St. and Truman Ave.(US1) lies a coffee shop serving delicious Green Mountain Coffee, homemade Key Lime Pie, chocolate dipped frozen Key Lime Pie, snacks and cold beverages. Other services offered are printing, faxing, memory card availability, CD/DVD burning. We offer 7 computer terminals and a laptop area. Five terminals at hand where you can surf the net while a warm breeze blows around! The following services are available: Hi-Speed DSL; Laptop Stations for WI-FI, Ethernet and Dialup; Faxing, Scanning, Memory Card Reader, CD Burner (for pictures and/or files), Digital Camera, Webcam (Hi-Mom!), Printer, and more! **Discounts are available to Crewmembers and Locals with proper I.D.**

Bettles Lodge Coffee Shop is on the way to Gates of the Arctic National Park- Bettles is a one hour flight from Fairbanks. The lodge also has bush aircraft for travel into the park, lodging and a full service restaurant. Also open year-round with dog sledding and aurora viewing in the winter. College Coffeehouse is located near the University of Alaska. A wide variety of espresso based drinks are available as well as teas, smoothies, soup and baked goods. We have entertainment several nights a week from Jazz, to Bluegrass, Celtic and Sat-Sun / 10am-midnight Alaska's only hard-wired Cyber cafe, home to 5 Mac's (including the new G3's) and 4 PC's. Heritage espresso and sweets open 7am-Midnight/Every night!! 6pm. We have 9 PC computers with network connection for internet acc type: general World66 rating: price: $5.00 per hour or 15 cents per minute tel: 907-274-6223 email: sinbad@sinbad.net hours: Northway Mall hours Monday thru Friday 10am to 9 pm. Saturday 12pm to address: Kaladi Coffee Net Anchorage, Alaska y22@finite-tech.com 415 L Street Anchorage, AK 99501 3101 Penland Parkway, K-26 Northway Mall Anchorage, Alaska 99508 USA

Cops want to fold illegal “sweepstakes cafes” that offer patrons cash prizes as they play online games. Officers have been ordered to notify the NYPD’s Organized Crime Control Bureau when they find such cafes, which have been popping up in Brooklyn and Queens. Detectives visit the joint to see if it’s breaking the law — but the line is blurry. Kesu01/Getty Images/iStockphoto NYPD’s Organized Crime Control Bureau wants to crack down on sweepstakes cafes. At such cafes, customers pay to play Internet games — and winners get additional game time or long-distance telephone minutes. That appears to legal. Jim Mone/AP Online gaming that pays off in cash sweepstakes is illegal, say officials. But as they play, gamblers are automatically entered into online sweepstakes that randomly pay cash, officials said. And that appears to be illegal. The sweepstakes cafes are a “new illegal gambling trend similar to Joker Poker (machines) or electronic slots, ” according to an NYPD memo from Oct. 18. “Many locations are . . . promising cash prizes for playing games, ” the memo continues. “(Cops) should remain vigilant of illegal Internet gambling.” The city has already taken other steps to rein in these reputed dens of iniquity. In May, the City Council passed a bill to allow the Department of Consumer Affairs to yank the license of any cafes caught giving out cash prizes. Cafe owners say they’re doing nothing illegal. “Gambling is something like slot machines, poker or something, ” said Alex Chen of 777 Chain in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, which advertises “the most profitable sweepstakes game, ” where customers can “make a fortune.”

LONDON, May 26— It is an unlikely export from here, but come this fall, a Britain-based entrepreneur will be taking his phenomenally successful chain of Internet cafes across the Atlantic to Times Square. The company, called EasyEverything, has created the equivalent of cybercafes on steroids: the one being planned for Times Square will have 650 to 1, 000 Internet terminals with high-resolution flat-panel screens. Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of EasyEverything and EasyJet, the five-year-old low-cost European airline, signed a lease this week for a 13, 300-square-foot site at 8 Times Square on 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Easy Everything is part of the same development where the new Hilton Hotel is being readied, along with another British export, Madame Tussaud's, the wax museum. If EasyEverything has even a smidgen of the success it has had here, queues - er, lines will begin to form around the super-cybercafe before it even opens. The first Easy Everything, which opened on June 21, 1999, near Victoria Station here with 400 computer terminals, was greeted by so many Internet surfers on its first day that staff members handed out coffee to the hordes to keep them from leaving. Internet cafes have never really taken off in the United States the way they have here and throughout other parts of Europe, so it may be somewhat of a surprise if Mr. Haji-Ioannou succeeds. But even he concedes it may be a struggle, though one he expects to win. ''A lot of people have said that I'll never make it work in New York, '' he said. ''But they said that about London, too. Have you ever been to EasyEverything in London at 2 a.m.? It's packed.'' The cafes themselves look futuristic, like a set from ''Star Trek, '' with hundreds and hundreds of people at rows of computers. The cafes sell coffee, snacks and sandwiches. Among the reasons EasyEvery thing, which is open 24 hours a day, may have succeeded in London are that most people here do not own personal computers and that the telephone rates for dial-up modem access to the Internet are significantly higher than in the United States. Because local telephone calls are billed by the minute here - not a flat rate like American telephone companies offer - Internet users must pay the telephone company and the access providers, like America Online, every time they log on. ''By itself, it is deadly dull for a U.S. audience, '' said Bruce Kasrel, a senior analyst at Forrester Research, which analyzes e-commerce. ''People already have Internet access at the office and at home.'' He cited empty Internet access terminals at airports as an example of a similar scheme that had not worked. One reason New Yorkers could log on is simply the sense of privacy. ''I know a lot of people come in to go online to search for jobs so their employer doesn't know, '' Mr. Haji-Ioannou said. He also expects tourists to pop in to check their e-mail. ''Mobile Internet access doesn't work and isn't cheap, '' he said.

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Police say an Internet cafe located in a Gretna shopping center was a front for an illegal gambling operation. Investigators raided the Lucky Times Internet Cafe, 64 West Bank Expressway, just after 10 a.m. Wednesday (Jan. 8), Gretna Police Deputy Chief Anthony Christiana said. Officers simultaneously served search warrants at two residences in New Orleans. Detectives arrested Lucky Times owner Jason Toma, 35, and the business' manager, Manuel Villagran, 48, both of Michigan. Gretna Police were still searching for a second owner, Marshall Isso, 50, as of Wednesday evening. Investigators found a safe containing a large amount of cash and marijuana at the business, Christiana said. They also located additional drugs at a New Orleans apartment rented by one of the suspects. The West Bank Major Crimes Task Force, Gretna Police and the State Police conducted a two-month undercover investigation, Christiana said. They determined the cafe was masquerading as a business where patrons could use the Internet, send faxes or make copies. In reality, the cafe's 90 computer terminals were used for online gambling with games such as black jack, roulette and slot machines, Christiana said. "It's advertised as 'sweepstakes.' But when you get down to it, it's gambling, " Christiana said. Gretna Police say the owners of Lucky Times Internet Cafe operated an illegal gambling operation from their storefront, 64 West Bank Expressway, Gretna. Detectives raided the location Wednesday (Jan. 8).Michelle Hunter / NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune The cafe, sandwiched between Rooms To Go and Finish Line Off Track Betting, was comprised of a single, large room with plain, gray walls and rows of tables and computers. The business operated from 7 a.m. to 1:30 a.m., authorities said. Patrons bought an access number and password along with credits to play games. They could then swipe their card at a terminal and begin gaming. Similar to casinos, players earned credits based on their wagers and wins, Christiana said. They could then "cash out" afterwards. Detectives determined that players could also access the games offsite, but had to return to the cafe to claim any winnings.

The failure of the Internet-sweepstakes referendum yesterday means state and local law officials will begin enforcing a law today that could put the cafes out of business in Ohio. Less than an hour after the Committee to Protect Ohio Jobs announced yesterday that it was abandoning its campaign to gather signatures to put the Internet cafe law on the November 2014 ballot as a referendum, Attorney General Mike DeWine issued a statement saying enforcement efforts will begin immediately. “Internet-sweepstakes cafes have long had operations that raised suspicions of illegal gambling, ” DeWine said. “Ohio now has a law which makes clear which activities are legal and illegal in these cafes, and we will not hesitate to enforce the law.” He said he will be sending letters to 88 county sheriffs and all of the several hundred Internet-cafe owners in the state notifying them of the requirements of the law. “We will be watching, ” DeWine added. Robert Cornwell, executive director of the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association, said sheriffs will work closely with DeWine’s office to enforce the new law. “I don’t think they’re going to be a problem, ” Cornwell said of the cafe operators. “I think they will fold up their operations and move to other states that don’t have such tough regulations. That’s what they’ve done before.” The new law took effect at 12:01 a.m. today. It was originally scheduled to take effect on Sept. 5, but under Ohio law was put on hold by the effort to allow opponents to gather sufficient signatures on a referendum petition. If the petition effort had been successful, the law would have been delayed until after the November 2014 vote. The new law does not outright ban the cafes, which feature casino-style games played on devices connected to the Internet, but it undoubtedly will make it difficult for them to remain in business. It includes a $10 limit on the value of prizes, and bans awarding prizes in cash, gift cards, lottery tickets, alcohol, tobacco, firearms and vouchers. It also requires cafes to obtain a certificate of registration from the attorney general, and to file monthly reports. The Bureau of Criminal Investigation has authority to investigate alleged gambling-law violations at cafes.

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