Last year, YouTubers became the spotlight of lots of controversy with moral and legal issues. YouTubers like TmarTn were found deceiving their viewers when they would advertise a gambling site they owned. Here's the catch, though, TmarTn owned the site and acted like he had no affiliation with it. This is illegal because you must disclose your involvement in sponsorships and ownership with products or businesses especially if you're getting some sort of financial benefit from it.
It also raised some moral questions as TmarTn's viewer base is predominantly minors and in the United States, you must be 18 or 21 to gamble depending on where you live. The site didn't really do a great job of keeping minors out and tons of kids gambled away their in-game weapons and money (or parent's money).
You would've thought people would've learned from this controversy, but it appears not! FIFA YouTuber Chris Douglas, also known as NpentheZ (these names get weirder and weirder) and his business partner Dylan Rigby pleaded guilty to gambling offenses similar to the ones seen by TmarTn where they didn't disclose their connection to a site they advertised. Furthermore, they ran a gambling facility without owning an operating license.
Their gambling site allowed players to gamble virtual FIFA currency on real soccer games which they could then use to buy in-game items such as Ultimate Team packs which grant you new players, items, and more.
No consequences have been given yet and Douglas has continued to upload videos but surely the two will receive a hefty fine at the very least.
[BBC via VideoGamer]
