MFP Server/VPS/Cloud Hosted Discussion

I think it will be best if MFP (the company) will provide MFP vps server with subscription service, so subscriber can have 24 hour stable access from anywhere in the world with any device.

hi wonghonki
place your good request in the suggestions and it might be a new year present   .

mcbee

Anybody is free to set up their own VPS server and do what they like with it. If, however, MarketFeeder Pro deliberately set up servers knowing that access was being given to Betfair, in countries where such a thing was illegal, there would be serious risk of breaking laws worldwide.

So, I think people should do their own thing and rent their own servers, not fair for them to expect others to do it for them.

hi nigelbleddfa1
good point.
BUT,betfair will only give access to users with a postal address that is within there legal betting country.
i live in bulgaria, betfair has no legal write to except clients from a here or any restricted country, so you cannot and i cannot open an account with betfair unless you are resident or have a resident address in an unrestricted country.
it is not the regulation for the vps provider to check if there client is a legal resident of a certain country.

mcbee

Hi Nigel & mcbee,

I think both of you have good points and here's my take on it from what
I know about having an Australian resident Betfair account.
People residing in Australia cannot bet 'in play' on any sport except horse racing. However if one was to bet via a VPS to bet 'in play' then it is still regarded by the Aust Govt as breaking the law. Betfair are supposed to monitor account holder activities as best they can to ensure those laws are adhered to, and if they suspect any irregularities then  they can ask the account holder to provide proof of address from where they are supposed to be placing 'in play' bets from. In this case it would be where the VPS is located. Then it starts getting tricky, a path one should never go down.
However if one was to dial into a VPS and set a robot running before the match starts
then technically they are not betting 'in play' (from Australia) so that should be okay.
The bets will be placed by an API via a VPS outside of Australia.
It appears the onus is on Betfair to ensure their subscribers are abiding by the Government rules and to take appropriate action where necessary. Of course, Betfair don't wish to be seen as beastly ogres, they'd rather turn a blind eye, but their own position within that country could be jeopardised in doing so on a regular basis. 
All of the above relates only to betting on all sports (except horse racing) from within Australia.
In theory dialling into a VPS from any country where Betfair is banned or local laws as above exist, seems innocent enough as one is passing the betting over to an API in another country. On the surface no laws are being broken. However the intent is there and governments can and do invent laws to stop you doing it.
A case in point, the TV Licensing laws at one time required you to have a TV license if you owned a TV. Nowadays if one only had a smart phone and watched Porridge once a week they could face a hefty fine if they did not possess a valid TV License. Laws are added to stop people exploiting loopholes.
With this in mind I feel Well Done would not take unnecessary risks by entertaining
such an idea.
Personally I'd love it to happen as I do a bit of travelling but sadly, it's highly unlikely.
R

Hi! nigel, mcbee & racepro,

There are good points raised here, here are mine:-

1, There is absolutely no intention to bet illegally with Betfair, all Betfair customers are accepted by their residential address and their credit or debit cards are based. So for one who is resided in a restricted country, they can not have a Betfair account and cannot bet full stop. When one travels to a restricted country, it is not that he is not allowed to bet with Betfair, it is his access to Betfair is blocked for his ip address is identified as restricted because of his geographic location. with a vps server, this is no longer an issue.

2, For those whose accounts are based in Australia, your access to the inplay markets (bar horse racing) are probably automatically stopped (correct me if I am wrong). Otherwise, they have to self discipline themselves or risking their accounts closed by Betfair.

3, I take the point that one can easily rent a vps server, but I am not certain if MFP(software) will run efficiently on a third party vps server without being modified, if MPF(company) is to provide their own vps server, all technically problems associated with the software will no longer an issue.

4, As regarding to whether MFP(company) is breaking rules by providing this service, I personally will find it hard to justified, they are certainly not encouraging people to bet illegally, they are merely providing a more stable, convenient and efficient way to bet with Betfair for those who are already allowed to bet with them.

Hi,

Another good contribution. Thanks 'wonghonki'.
To add to this last posting. In Australia Betfair has a red message pop up effectively telling their punters that their 'illegal bet' cannot be placed, words to that effect. So yes, 'in play' bets are blocked at source and I would imagine a similar blocking practice takes place in barred countries.

To have a Betfair account, a person generally needs to provide sufficient ID that often rules out non citizens of these countries. One main reason betting outside of a country is illegal is that it loses x millions/billions of currency that could have been better spent on their local economy.
In the mid nineties the Hong Kong government realised this when their quasi government owned and run jockey club, which is a non profit organisation, was faced with huge falls in betting turnover compared to previous years/decades. They soon discovered the reason was that UK bookies, the scourge of gambling, were tempting their citizens to bet with their off shore bookie firms. Massive turnover was lost to them on soccer.
To counteract this the Hong Kong Jockey Club set up soccer betting where HK citizens could go into their local betting shop and bet on English and later European football.
They then immediately banned their citizens from betting outside of the territiory.

But as we know, trying to stop the Chinese from betting is akin to trying to straighten a dog's tail . Millions of sterling still are placed from Chinese in Hong Kong, China,  Singapore and Malaysia.
   
It is all a matter of economics
R