The gambling industry often occupies a complex moral terrain. It sits at the crossroads of promoting individual choice and ensuring the safety of participants, a balance that can be difficult to articulate for those outside the circle of gamblers who truly grasp the thrill of the experience.
Despite the nuanced nature of gambling ethics, we operate in a reality grounded in moral considerations. At the core of my professional philosophy is a simple principle: I choose to engage in work I enjoy, alongside people who maintain ethical standards. This straightforward approach has served me well, reminding me countless times that adherence to truth is paramount. I approach my work with clarity—what you see is what you get—from personal interactions to content creation.
I recall a saying I heard: "If you never lie, you never have to remember anything." Personally, my memory isn't the best. My strongest recollections are about films from the late '70s to the early '90s, a peculiar but valuable focus.
However, not everyone adheres to such straightforward ethics. Recently, I've seen numerous complaints from individuals whose content about gambling has been lifted without permission from their sites. While it’s common practice for major news outlets to credit their sources, the current issue is more severe than mere citation lapses.
What we are witnessing is outright theft. Many B2B gambling content platforms find their work scraped by AI and restructured on other sites, all without attribution to the original creators. Entire websites have been replicated under new designs and marketed without any credit given for the original material, misleading readers into believing they are visiting legitimate sources.
Producing news is a labor-intensive process that requires research, calls, site visits, and the skill to create unique content. This demands training, creativity, and a significant investment of time and effort. In stark contrast, stealing content merely requires a certain type of technology and a distinct lack of morals.
The B2B landscape has blurred in recent years. While some platforms genuinely operate as affiliates, many have emerged without the necessary resources or creativity, resorting to replication instead of innovation. They seek quick profits without putting in the hard work to create original material.
The industry often refers to deceptive practices as actions of "bad actors," a term that accurately identifies those who engage in questionable operations. In this case, I liken them to one of the industry's most infamous figures: Steven Seagal.
A concerning trend has emerged. One of the first posts I encountered on this issue came from Zoltán Tűndik, formerly with Hipther. He noted that while copycats had previously scraped their site, it was manageable as they would link back to the source. However, Zoltán later discovered a blatant replication where an entire site mirrored theirs, including author bios. This was before AI made copying even easier and faster by replicating a website overnight, complete with copied URLs.
Mihail Criclevit from OnlyiGaming has faced similar challenges. Initially, he ignored the issue, thinking it might resolve itself. However, he soon discovered that a competitor had not only replicated his site but also incorporated his design elements, right down to the colors and icons. It was a complete and blatant duplication of his work — an entire site copied verbatim.
Unique content is crucial for platforms like Mihail’s, which facilitate job postings and other services. The value in cloning such a site remains unanswered. Even when he identified the culprit among industry peers and raised concerns, he was dismissed as being “too negative” for questioning their actions.
In a digital age, protecting one's work is challenging. Many feel powerless to stop unethical practices in an industry forum, where discussing such issues can disrupt the “good vibes.” Attempts to counteract these actions often come down to sending requests through lawyers, appealing for compliance that is unlikely to be honored.
This issue extends beyond gambling; it affects business-to-consumer and business-to-business practices globally. My question to those engaging in this behavior is straightforward: What kind of person did you aspire to be when you got out of bed this morning?
You are not facing dire necessity; there’s nothing noble or intelligent in your actions. These are not heroic acts akin to Robin Hood. You are, quite simply, engaging in theft, using modern technology to enable actions you perhaps learned were wrong at an early age.
When asked about your profession, do you truthfully admit, "I’m a thief"? I imagine you prefer to describe yourself as working in finance or real estate instead, avoiding the cold reality of your actions. The industry is relatively small, and inevitably, we will cross paths at events where the truth may come to light.
