It May Not be the End of Online Gambling

07 December 2006

The US did pass the Safe Port Act, which intends to limit online gambling, making it all the more difficult for gamers in the US to paddle away at online poker, but it didn't bring forth the end of the world.

Yet, Lawrence Walters, an attorney who specializes in online gaming laws says the addendum to the Act doesn't clarify the online gambling situation, but rather brings about an obscurity.

"The version of the legislation that finally passed is an arbitrary, poorly-drafted, vague set of prohibitions that only serve to further complicate the muddled mess that is online gaming regulation in the [U.S.]," Walters said.

"As a result, the remaining provisions of the legislation are contradictory, and attempt to incorporate provisions of existing state or federal law in order to define what activity constitutes unlawful Internet gambling."

The critics of online gambling prohibition are the banks, which would not only be required to track all financial transactions to ensure that they aren't related to online gambling, but stop the ones that are as well. Banks would of course lose out the most because of the transactions related to online gambling. And, although their revenues will continue to be transmitted, it will be a major blow with the US market out. As Independent Community Bank lobbyist Steve Verdier said, "It's very tempting to think the banking industry can stop this kind of stuff because people pay for it through banks, but the fact is the system just wasn't really designed to do it."

On another note:

Online casino firm shelves USA plans, looks at Italy instead - The top tier British online casinos firm made the announcement while releasing its first-half operating numbers Thursday, showcasing a credible 12 percent rise in profits of GBP 151.3 million in the six months to June 30, compared with GBP 134.7 million over the same period last year.

The online casinos group has other expansion plans in mind and is preparing to invest heavily in them, however. Spokesmen said that the firm had signed a joint venture agreement with Italian betting company Pianeta Scommesse, establishing it as a government-accredited bookmaker in Italy.

"We plan to invest around Euro 100 million ($128 million) to develop retail, internet and telephone betting propositions in Italy over the next 5 years," Chief Executive Chris Bell revealed.

Online Casinos need betting cap, says British MP - Because many people have access to online casinos and also access to credit card accounts without high overheads, problems of online casinos seeing major credit card debts being rung up have increased recently, and the problem is getting even more dangerous. Should credit card firms do something on their own? Or do they need a little push from someone like a major British politician who understands the industry?

Credit card firms should place a cap on how much can be spent on internet gambling sites, an MP has said. Mike Weir, the Scottish National Party (SNP) MP for Angus, called for a limit of £1,000 a week and for sites to limit players to one credit card each.

It follows cases where gamblers have spent thousands on other people's cards and concerns over gambling addiction. But both APACS, which represents the card industry, and Partygaming say there are major problems with the idea.

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