[cb18]

Good god, typical coiner logic... An attempt at a fallacy of relative privation('whataboutery') that doesn't even make sense. Do you think state lotteries are being misrepresented for what they are? Putting aside people's innumeracy, do you think state lotteries fraudulently misrepresent the expected return of purchasing a ticket?

I too think lotteries are a little seedy, and it's a little weird how the state uses its vice regulating powers to create something of a vice monopoly to further its own ends, but surely you see how this comparison you're making is lacking in equivalence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_relative_privation

[gojomo]

Yes, the marketing of state lotteries misrepresents their value and preys on the poor and misinformed. (Private casinos are just as bad.)

Because law and social-norm enforcement faces budgetary constraints in time/resources/attention, the (informal-not-really) "fallacy" of relative privation doesn't apply. We can only choose some activities to both demonize and punish; we should allocate that effort well.

State lotteries and state-sanctioned gambling monopolies are a lot more destructive than even dishonestly-marketed "cryptocoin IPOs" (where people know that caveat emptor applies and traditional legal recourse is difficult).

And, the enforcement action described here was against a fairly honest, successful cryptocoin venture, SatoshiDice, a far more moral operation than the California Lottery.

The SEC doesn't need to "do more", it needs to "do less". The government's limited attention, resources, and competence should be focused on crimes and fraud with real, actual victims. Not trivial violations-of-form.