U.K.'s G-Day On September 1st

Published: Friday, August 31, 2007 Online-Casinos.com

G-DAY ON SEPTEMBER 1ST

First virtual gambling license applicants will soon find out if they have been successful

September 1st is the date on which the UK Gambling Commission takes over control of the British gambling industry, and the 14 online gambling companies that have applied for licenses under the new dispensation will soon know whether the applications have been successful.

Advertising will be opened up to gambling companies subject to some time and content constraints, a major advantage for applicants like William Hill, the Gala Group and other online gambling firms. And in the land sector over 300 firms have applied for licenses for bookmaking and casino activities. The liberalisation of advertising has another dimension - gaming operators in other European Union countries will be empowered to advertise in Britain for the first time, and the Commission has already publicised its list of acceptable licensing jurisdictions (see previous Online-Casinos.com/InfoPowa report)

The advent of the new approach to gambling in general and online gambling in particular provides a stark contrast between the British approach of regulating and taxing Internet gambling, and that in the United States where strenuous enforcement efforts have attempted to prohibit the pastime by prosecuting gambling firm executives and forbidding financial transactions with online gambling companies.

The United States constituted a very significant percentage of the global online gambling market and the reduction in its potential as a result of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act has intensified free market competition among online gambling companies in Europe and Asia.

The Gambling Commission will not seek to prevent its licensees from accessing the US market, according to a spokesperson for the UK government Department of Media, Culture and Sport: "We aren't banning people from using Web sites based in the U.K. It is up to the consumer what they do,'' the spokesperson told Bloombergs business news.

The Mediterranean island of Malta stands to benefit from the new approach. As a member of the European Economic Area and an online gambling licensing jurisdiction with a much lower taxation rate than the UK, it is attracting unprecedented attention from operators looking for a good and economically attractive home.

Malta has so far approved 152 of 180 applications for virtual gaming licenses, Kristy Spiteri, a spokeswoman for Malta's Lotteries and Gaming Authority, has revealed.

"Usually the Lotteries and Gaming Authority receives around two applications per week, however, in the past weeks it has received more than usual,'' Spiteri said.

Meanwhile, Britain's plans to open 17 new bricks-and-mortar casinos, including a supercasino, have been delayed by court challenges and political changes, and are not yet confirmed.