The United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media, and Sport, concerned about the welfare of vulnerable segments of the country’s population, is taking aim at foreign internet gambling companies. Jeremy Hunt wants to make sweeping changes to the U.K.’s gambling laws to tighten up regulations and greatly restrict who can compete for the eyeballs and dollars of the nation’s residents.
Hunt’s greatest concern is the ability of foreign companies to advertise their services in the U.K. A “senior government source” told the Daily Mail, “Ministers are concerned about the explosion of internet gambling advertising since Labour relaxed the gambling laws. Changes the Government wants to make would help protect the public from gambling companies that don’t meet U.K. standards, but have been allowed to profit from Labour’s lax approach to internet gambling.”
Of primary concern is the large number of children who are exposed to internet gambling advertisements on a daily basis. According to the Daily Mail article, experts claim “around a million” children in the U.K. are addicted to gambling.
The Gambling Act of 2005 laid out the rules and regulations for gambling in the U.K., including those for internet or “remote” gambling. While Section 89 of the Act, which details rules for obtaining a remote gambling license, states that “remote gambling equipment used by the licensee in connection with the licensed activities must be situated in Great Britain,” it goes on to say that basically anyone could get a license:
“Where the Commission issues a remote operating license it may exclude… the condition that would otherwise be attached by virtue of subsection (2), if the Commission is satisfied that the exclusion is reasonably consistent with pursuit of the licensing objectives.” As referenced, subsection (2) is the rule regarding where the gambling equipment must be located, which was quoted above.
The Gambling Act of 2005 also states that nobody may advertise foreign gambling other than a lottery in the U.K. Section 331 of the Act states that when it comes to remote gambling, “foreign gambling” is defined as “remote gambling none of the arrangements for which are subject to the law about gambling of an EEA State (whether by being regulated, exempted, prohibited, or otherwise).”
EEA stands for the European Economic Area, which was formed in 1994, allowing Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein to essentially be honorary members of the European Union (EU). All told, there are 30 members of the EEA – the 27 EU nations and the three previously mentioned members.
In addition to the EEA members, internet gambling companies that are licensed in countries on a separate “white list” are allowed to advertise in the U.K. These countries include Gibraltar, Antigua, Alderney, the Isle of Man, and Tasmania.
And this is what Hunt does not like. He wants to reign in all remote gambling, requiring that those companies that offer services in the U.K. market be licensed in the country and subject to U.K. law.
In addition to advertising, Hunt also may look to ban credit cards as a permissible means of deposit on internet gambling sites. His concern is that credit cards allow people to play with money they do not actually have, creating problems for the players, the credit card issuers, and the gambling companies down the road. A player may deposit without thinking only to realize later that he now owes his credit card company money (plus interest), money he may have lost at the virtual tables.
On the flip side, the credit card and gambling companies may then have to deal with charge backs and non-payments by players who decide that a hit and run is better than paying up.
