Nearly 800,000 Marylanders with a license plate commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812 are no longer unwittingly advertising the services of an online gambling site based in the Philippines.

The Motor Vehicle Administration has reclaimed a website domain displayed at the bottom of every plate — www.starspangled200.org — that for several months had redirected to globeinternational.info, a site promoting online casinos in the Southeast Asian country.

The domain now redirects to the MVA’s homepage and will do so going forward, according to a Friday statement.

The MVA took “immediate action to reclaim the expired domain and prevent further misuse,” the agency said.

The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.

“In partnership with the state Department of Information Technology, the MVA engaged the services of a reputable domain broker and was able to successfully recover the URL earlier this week,” the agency said.

The domain originally belonged to a commission in charge of planning the state’s commemoration of the 200-year anniversary of the war, but then changed hands several times beginning in 2016.

According to internet archive snapshots, the domain was turned into a promotional tool for online casinos in the Philippines sometime between August and December 2022, though it is unclear what business created or ran the site or how it obtained a web address linked to a centuries-old war in the U.S.

cadence.quaranta@thebaltimorebanner.com

Cadence Quaranta

cadence.quaranta@thebaltimorebanner.com

Cadence Quaranta

Cadence Quaranta is a breaking news reporter with the Banner.

More from Cadence Quaranta

I-695 crash that killed six workers among deadliest since 1980

With job training and accountability, a program helping squeegee workers is succeeding

More From The Banner

Photo collage shows David Bramble on left, with map of Baltimore and photographs of row houses in background. Many bright yellow circles mark specific locations on the background map.

The developer of Harborplace bought 128 rowhomes in East Baltimore

One Baltimore County developer is pouring big money into local politics

Larry Lucchino, visionary behind Camden Yards construction, dies at 78

Dundalk was a steel town. When the Key Bridge fell, so did its legacy.