Alarming Claims In New Study

Published: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

ALARMING CLAIMS IN NEW STUDY

UK opposition politics come into play as study commissioned by the government is published

The Remote Gaming Summit provided a relevant backdrop for the release of a study on Internet gambling commissioned by the UK government and carried out by the company RSe Consulting. Mainstream media and the UK political opposition party were quick to comment on the contents.

The Daily Mail reported that the hard hitting summary spelled out research showing that three out of four people who bet on the Internet are either problem or pathological gamblers - compared with just one in five who gamble, but not on the Internet.

"It found that more children and women are being encouraged to gamble online and that the ease with which people can lose vast sums of money very quickly has exacerbated the problems of existing gambling addicts," the report continues, adding that the study claims that criminal gangs are exploiting lax security on casino websites to launder millions.

The Times said that the report for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport highlighted the similarity between gambling sites and video games, which, it said, made them particularly dangerous for the under aged. "Free" games that allow adolescents to learn how to play without actually betting money "distorted their perception of reality".

The Telegraph followed a similar theme, covering the threat of money laundering and underage gaming in an unregulated environment and quoting an example where a 16-year-old was able to place bets online on 30 of the 37 sites tested.

The newspaper reported on one American study that found that three-quarters of gamblers who use internet sites were either problem or pathological gamblers. The comparable figure for gamblers who did not use the internet was only 22 per cent.

"Concern about the impact on young people was reinforced last night by Prof Mark Griffiths of Nottingham Trent University, a leading expert on gambling," the Telegraph article continued. "He published a survey in the summer which showed that nine per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds had gambled on the internet."

On the positive side, the Telegraph published the argument of the Culture Secretary, who said: "We will welcome them [Internet gambling companies] here because we believe that by allowing those who want to gamble to do so over the counter, not under the counter, is the best way to protect children and vulnerable people and keep out crime," she explained, and insisted that Labour's Gambling Act, which comes into force next September, would ensure online sites were properly policed and regulated.

"If companies do come to the UK it will be because 'regulated in the Great Britain' will mean a website is subject to the most stringent controls and social-responsibility requirements anywhere in the world," she argued.

Opposition politicians in the UK were quick to pounce on the study. Hugo Swire, the Shadow Culture Secretary, said: "It is hard to see how the key aim of the legislation of 'preventing gambling from being a source of crime and disorder' fits in with the admission in this government-funded report that online gambling is being used to fund criminal activity.

"Ministers must take steps to deal with it at once, not just hand out kite marks for good behaviour. Government assurances that they would tackle crime and addiction increasingly seem very hollow. Given that we have seen an explosion in gambling under this government, today's half hearted attempts do seem to be too little too late," Swires claimed.

A spokesman for the department responded, saying that the exploitation of internet gaming by criminals was one reason why international regulations were needed.

According to UK government figures, Europe's regular online gamblers stake nearly 3.5 billion pounds a year, an average of GBP 1 000 each. The worldwide Internet gambling market is put at more than $30 billion.