Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/87353
Sarasota News Leader October 12, 2012 ple to buy time to play sweepstakes games on the Internet, he said. Pointing out that the county has a number of sweepstakes businesses, Gutierrez added, "I think they attract nice people." He has been working with a designer for the 560-square-foot space, he said. "It'll be a very beautiful [facility]," he added. Although he began planning the business ap- proximately a year ago, Gutierrez said, con- struction began only about two months ago. Sarasota County Planning and Development Services records show he applied on July 20 for a certificate of occupancy for the business. During the SKA meeting, which had about 20 audience members, Luckner pointed out that "the problem in Florida has been that … we have not prevented gambling" outside of specific places, such as casinos operated by the Seminole Indian tribe and on ships in in- ternational waters. Concern had arisen, she said, about whether Internet games of chance should be regulated or banned. Luckner added that bills filed in past sessions of the Florida Legislature, attempting to im- pose such regulation, had failed. Referring to the Internet cafe games, she said, "Essentially, these … are legal. They're not games of chance." Page 57 People might win a certificate or a chance to continue playing, she said. Almost every Florida county that has tried to enact an ordinance regulating such games has had the law overturned, she added. "The cafes sell Internet time by the minute or phone calling cards and give customers so many entries in a random drawing that are loaded onto a card or account," an April 16, 2011 Gainesville Sun article says. A Jan. 17 article in the Jacksonville Business Journal estimated about 1,000 Internet cafes were operating in the state. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 makes it a violation of federal law for a U.S. company to run an online poker room for money, according to the Florida Sun Sentinel. During the 2011 legislative session, the Sun Sentinel article points out, state Sen. Nancy Detert of Venice effectively killed a bill in the Senate that would have prohibited simulated gambling devices used for game promotions. As an advocate for veterans, the article said, Detert opposed the bill because she said vet- erans groups benefited from donations from some Internet cafes. Legislation introduced in the 2012 legislative session to ban Internet cafes met opposition from lawmakers who said the effort would cost thousands of jobs. Take Your TimeYou Have All Week Enjoy The News Leader Anytime - Day or Night