"Online Gambling in Legal Terms"

The government of the United States is working full time to completely fight against and resist the online gambling craze. This is not the case with Great Britain, however, where that government has taken a different stance. Great Britain is also concerned about Internet gambling but they have decided to embrace the industry instead. This has been accomplished by not only allowing companies to be listed on the London Stock Exchange, but by in addition passing a bill that it is believed will help regulate online gambling.

This bill is called the Gambling Bill, and it was recently passed, in fact only last year. It is geared to not only relate itself to gambling offenses, but also is designed as an aid in regulating Internet gambling (in the bill Internet gambling is also referred to as remote gambling). There are other issues that are addressed within the bill itself in addition to the regulation of online gambling. The Gambling Bill also addresses issues such as the intention of creating a new Gambling Commission. Other issues dealt with are gambling and advertising, the legality of gambling contracts, the operation of gambling premises, the protection of minors, and private betting and gambling. These regulations, of course, are and can only be extended to Internet gambling sites based in the United Kingdom. The bill does not have jurisdiction over off-shore gambling sites. It is expected however, and hoped, that since the bill regulates and licenses online gambling sites, many of the presently British-owned off-shore operations, examples being William’s Hill and Ladbroker’s, may in fact return to the United Kingdom. By doing so they will be able to gain back some of their customer base. These are the many customers that were lost because of the fact that they were reluctant to give their credit card numbers out to companies located overseas. Now that the new Gambling Bill is in place and licensing and regulating of online gambling is now possible, many of these companies can return to the UK and operate from there. This would be the case even if only one part of their remote gambling equipment were located within the country.

There are also a number of important measures within the bill that are designed to protect children and vulnerable adults, or exactly those living in the country who were previously open to abuse prior to the implementation of the bill. As a result of this aspect of the bill, those involved with child protective services have applauded it and given it a great deal of support. They make note of the fact that the gambling industry before the advent of these regulations, was not doing what it could to protect children and at risk adults from risks associated with gambling. While it is certainly still too early to tell what will be in economic, social and cultural terms the affects on the United Kingdom, it is worth keeping not to see if those affects will be beneficial. If all works out as hoped, quite possibly the United States might come to see that online gambling is here to stay and is not simply a passing phase, and instead of fighting the industry, they will begin to deal with it as well.