Jailing your competitors' customers

Sociopathic businessmen would love to imprison customers who use competitors' services. But of course businesspeople don't have the power to jail. The government, however, does.

The governor of Massachusetts hopes to raise additional money by selling licenses to operate three gambling resorts in his state. And to maximize the money he could get from the licences the governor wants to imprison for up to two years Massachusetts residents who make bets online.

David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas said "If you were cynical about it, you'd think that they're trying to set up a monopoly for the casinos" (HT Deval Patrich Watch)

If the government of Massachusetts ever entered into a profitable alliance with Microsoft, the state's jails would be quickly filled with Google searchers.