I like surfing the web. A website address could take you to a page about bicentennial history or to a page about how to sell gambling. Most of the time, it’s not news when a URL’s author or content changes. But it will be when the new gaming URL is on almost a million legal Maryland licence plates. The wrong idea started when someone tried to remember the War of 1812 in 2007. Someone either forgot to update the URL or let it run out after 15 years. Now look at us. Nearly 800,000 cars in Maryland have been seen on the road with government IDs that advertise a Philippine online casino. Since the documents in question are licence plates, people who don’t want to pay for foreign Internet gaming when they’re out and about have few choices. Reddit user Samuel Zehra told Vice about this event, including Maryland licence plates issued between 2012 and 2016. These plates were made as part of the War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission’s work to remember the War. The Commission set up in 2007, made several things to help people learn about and remember the War. These things include a social studies program, improvements to historic battlefields owned by the state, and several bicentennial events and celebrations. There was also the idea that state licence plates should have an internet address or URL that would lead people to a page with more information about the problem. At the time, it seemed like a good plan. Because Maryland was an essential part of the War 200 years ago, the attempt to teach people about local history was helpful while it lasted. A study on the new licence plate design done by The Baltimore Sun in 2010 showed that most Marylanders liked the “star-spangled design,” as it was called at the time. When the Commission’s power ran out in June 2015, it’s easy to see how the licence plates with the website on them got into the wrong hands. According to Vice and the Internet Archive, information about the War of 1812 was still available in December. Since then, a new owner has decided that online gambling is a better use of the domain name and has added helpful information like “gambling is allowed in the Philippines,” where “extremely lax laws govern gaming.” The Washington Post says that almost 15% of all cars registered in Maryland have one of the 798,000 licence plates that support gaming. Drivers who don’t want their cars to be used for gambling don’t have many easy choices. They could order a new plate, but it would cost a lot of money and time. You can’t drive in Maryland if your licence plate cover hides “any of the characters on a vehicle’s registration plate.” That may still work when a URL is written on a tape. The most exciting thing is that a Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration representative told the Washington Post that “the URL is not and has never been owned or maintained by the MVA.” A government group should think about it before putting a URL on almost a million pieces of metal that the government gave and will be on cars for years.
