Gambling Regulation – a legal hotbed
The internet explosion worldwide has led to the prevalence and growth of many industries, one of the biggest being the online gaming industry. Gambling regulation has made legal internet gambling a confusing issue and different countries are playing major roles in this booming industries.
For countries that do not allow any type of gambling either on land or legal internet gambling, it seems previous legislation are now are of no direct consequence. Looking at those countries that play an active part in the online gaming action it is important to see what their stance is in regards to gambling regulation.
Is the US really a factor in online gambling?
Probably the biggest controversy or that which holds the highest interest is the USA ban on gambling transactions. To begin with, the USA has imposed the financial restrictions of gambling venues on their financial institutions under the UIGEA regulation. Although this has not been finalized, it is slated to be so in the near future and will certainly hold an impact worldwide as far as gambling regulation goes. Naturally, those that suffer the most will be the US players. Without the US players having the legal ability to play, many gambling sites have closed their membership to them.
From a political point of view, some countries view the USA as trying to be the gambling Police of the Internet. This has raised some real hot issues when it comes to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Antigua imposed a trade sanction because of this act and was supported by the WTO. It lead to an amount of $3.4 billion sanction, but was settled out of court with Antigua winning.
Is UK Gambling Leading the Way
Then there are the watchful eyes of the UK. Their gaming regulation is strict and closely monitored when it comes to responsible gambling. This is most evident with their white list, which has become a prominent factor for the gambling industry. The UK has an avid gaming community and having the privilege to advertise as such in the UK requires one to be on the white list.
To add to this is the lucrative gaming license opportunities that are available in Malta.
What will happen with the UIGEA?
There is no doubt that all eyes of the gaming world are on the US as to what is going to happen with UIGEA if its passes on Dec 1, 2009 and what kind of a domino effect is it going to have on the gaming world? Where is legal internet gambling going to end up? Then there is also the question as to what kind of reaction is going to be instigated within the countries that are opposed to the USA self imposed policing position on online gaming?
When all is taken into consideration one could ask, are US online gambling restrictions really going to have that much of an impact on the rest of the online gambling community? Most sites still seem to be fairing well even without their American memberships.
It would seem that all agree that there must be gambling regulation in place in order to ensure legal internet gambling. They do not agree that it must cease to exist. Responsible gaming is something that would appear in most cases to be the priority of the gaming industry.
We will of course closely follow this fight and report on where things go.