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UK
Casino Times
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News
28 October 2006
US Gambling Law
Flawed
The US crackdown on online
gambling is a "new prohibition", which is likely to fuel a
rise in fraud and exploitation, the UK culture secretary has
said.
Offshore sites could
become the "modern equivalent of speakeasies", illegal bars
which opened in 1920s America when alcohol was banned, Tessa
Jowell added.
New US laws forbid firms
from taking internet bets, and ban banks and credit card
firms from allowing web payments.
Ms Jowell said regulating
sites worked better than prohibition.
Under UK government plans,
the Gambling Commission is to vet sites, giving official
approval to those with the best working
practices.
Operators will not be
allowed to target children and must keep customers informed
about how much money they have spent.
Key staff, such as
managing directors and finance managers, will also be
checked for links to organised crime.
Ms Jowell said: "Broadly
speaking we have three choices: you can prohibit, like the
US, do nothing or regulate, like we have. I firmly believe
we have chosen the path that will do the most to protect
children and vulnerable people and keep out
crime."
She added: "America should
have learnt the lessons of prohibition. The Volstead Act
which brought in prohibition in 1919 was meant to stop
alcohol from causing harm, but in practice it forced
otherwise law-abiding customers into the hands of the
bootleggers. If it goes wrong, there is a real danger is
that off shore sites based in poorly regulated countries
will become the modern day equivalent of speakeasies,
increasing the risk of exploitation and fraud."
Ms Jowell said there was a
danger of the US government popularising badly regulated
offshore gambling sites.
The US legislation,
approved this month by President George W Bush, is expected
to hit UK firms, as it closes off a large part of the global
market.
Costa Rica, the country
which hosts the most internet gambling sites in the world,
advertises its "lack" of regulation.
The website costarica.com
says: "When you use an Online
Casinos based in
Costa Rica you are playing at your own risk and you are at
the mercy of the online casino's good faith to fulfil its
representations. Online casinos may decide at their own
discretion not to pay what you have earned and there is no
way you can collect those monies since it is illegal in
Costa Rica to collect money based on gambling."
Ms Jowell will be hosting
a summit on online gambling next week, with politicians from
30 countries discussing how to achieve international
regulations.
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