U.S. Ban Of Online Casinos Unlikely To Succeed
Published: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
U.S. BAN OF ONLINE CASINOS UNLIKELY TO SUCCEED
30 million U.S. online gamblers are a major impediment to banning online casinos
Morgan Stanley, one of the top international business services groups has
issued an objective analysis of the new moves in the USA to ban online gambling,
coming to the conclusion that it is unlikely that bans will come about in the
next 12 to 18 months at least.
Surveying the three seperate legislative attempts in process from Reps.Goodlatte,
Leach and Sen Jon Kyl, the report examines the effects of state
vs federal authority, lobbying and "carve out" efforts from a wide range
of self-interested audiences, the history of previously failed attempts going
back a decade, political timing and the fact that 2006 has the fewest ever Congressional
days before November elections.
In relation to these forthcoming elections, the report notes that with Nielsen
NetRating numbers indicating 30 million or more American online gamblers, these
potentially unpopular proposals may well face a lack of political support. Summing
up, the authors say that an "Adverse regulatory outcome is unlikely."
Considering the financial contraints under consideration, the report notes that
U.S. financial institutions introduced these in a private and de facto sense some
two years ago, with credit card financing dropping from 90 percent to less than
50 percent, and alternative methods appearing that resulted in the industry continuing
to grow.
In the event of the proposals becoming law, there would also be a 12 month lag
time to enact the new law, and difficulties in its enforcement, especially if
this involved interference in access to the Internet for Americans should an ISP
blocking strategy be adopted. The report quotes Sen. Kyl himself as saying, "Online
gambling would be a difficult kind of activity to regulate, because we don't have
jurisdiction over the people abroad who are doing it."
The report also notes the recent WTO rulings and the still outstanding amendments
to horse racing betting over the Internet if the US is to be consistent with its
claim that it objects to online gambling on moral grounds.
Quoting CCA statistics, the report reveals that the global industry is expected
to turn revenues of $15 billion in 2006 and more going forward, with 80 nations
outside the US, including Great Britain licensing operators and 300 companies
with over 2 000 sites.
"Ultimately, we think that the size and scale of the industry will dominate
the attempts to moralise and prohibit," the authors opine. "It is inconsistent
with its popularity to ban online gambling."
The report touches on regulatory moves within the industry, saying: "Operators
have gone to great lengths to legitimise the industry, including initiatives such
as eCOGRA, with measures to limit problem gambling, increased security and identity
checks, a full audit trail to eradicate money laundering and promoting websites
such as Gamcare."
Mention is also made of the Bet On Sports initiative to prove there are no links
between online gambling and money laundering.
Concluding that the US legal scene is likely to remain "a grey area"
for at least the next 18 to 24 months, the report calls attention to developments
in the UK, pointing out that online gambling is regarded in that country as a
"legitimate leisure activity" to be regulated, and that this view will
predominate internationally in time.
