UK e-gambling licensing ‘is no surprise’
Tuesday 12th January 2010, 2:30PM GMT.
PLANS for new licensing requirements for overseas e-gambling firms wanting to operate in the UK will have an impact locally.
But director of e-commerce development for the States of Alderney Robin Le Prevost (pictured) believes the changes will not be as severe as some people are suggesting.
It was announced last week by UK sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe that the Government wanted to see online operators currently licensed outside Britain having to apply for a licence from the Gambling Commission if they want to advertise or provide their services to British consumers.
Under the plans, which will be subject to a consultation period, all online gambling firms active in the UK market will have an obligation to share information about suspicious betting patterns with the UK’s sports governing bodies as well as the Gambling Commission.
They will also have to comply with British licence requirements including the protection of children and vulnerable people, and will have to demonstrate how they will contribute to the research, education and treatment of problem gambling in Britain.
A licence fee will also be introduced, but this will be established following the consultation.
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The UK government has every right to licence gambling operators who advertise in the country.
However I would be interested to see how they intend to enforce the licensing of online companies used by British consumers. Short of using a China-esque blocking system on the Internet I don’t see how they can.
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Paul Le P
They will simply make it a requirement for all UK based internet service providers to ban external betting company IP’s.
Those that use proxy servers will be able to bypass this though.
And I don’t think it would stand up with reference to human rights legislation.
The UK government are wishing to generate as much revenue as they can possibly dream up. If they are allowed to get their way that is.
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The UK could just follow the USA’s lead and make payments to gambling sites illegal and the banks/ credit card companies liable if they break the law.
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Paul – you’re right on the technical side of things – however as you rightly point out, proxy servers etc. will allow anyone with a basic knowledge of Internet technologies to easily bypass this restriction.
Mrs P’s suggestion is probably the more viable option for the UK government, although again I’m sure people will find a way around it if they really want to (e.g. opening bank accounts in offshore locations like Guernsey and getting a debit card from them)
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MrsPinthepantry
Absolutely impossible solution from you there. There are many online payment options as well as prepaid debit cards which would render your proposal useless.
IP ban is the only workable solution. However, it would lead to many attacks from human rights activists.
I would be extremely shocked if the UK get their way on this.
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It will be the same as for financial services. If you log on to a broker’s site you will need to go through a process of confirming your location. Any site which allows US/UK/etc persons to see things in breach of their local regulation runs the risk of being prosecuted.
It will not prevent someone wishing to get around the system, but then they will have taken a conscious effort to avoid the protections afforded by their local legislation. It will prevent the unsuspecting consumer from accessing sites that are not regulated in the same way as domestic sites.
All good news as far as I am concerned and I am sure the Alderney businesses will adapt.
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TL, why do you think it’s good news?
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TL
The site would not be prosecuted at all. The offender that broke the law would be liable to prosecution in his or her country.
The UK could never implement this. It would create many more problems than what is set out to achieve.
This legislation would be challenged vigorously from the outset. No democratically elected government would be allowed to take the world out of the wide web.
This is achievable in places like China & Muslim countries. The UK haven’t got a hope in hell in getting this passed.
It will be able to legislate the shape of the future for its own companies. If they don’t like what is put before them many more will have the option to move to Alderney.
It is nothing more than an empty threat aimed at the offshore companies with a hint of envy attached.
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Paul – I don’t think that you are right there. Just try setting up website promoting shares in Guernsey. You could be regulated to promote shares in Guernsey but if you allow your website to be accessed from the US and accept subscriptions from the US I can bet that the US authorities would be down on you like a tonne of bricks. You will have committed an offence in the US despite being located here.
Greg – I think that it is good news because, as with financial services, I believe that gambling should be regulated. On-line gambling needs to play by the same rules as financial services so that you pay great attention to where your customers are based and what consumer protections apply to them.
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TL, thanks for your response. Do you think that currently the consumer doesn’t have enough protection? Or that websites are “ripping off” consumers?
I think it depends a huge amount on the type of gambling taking place. It’s very hard to rip off the consumer for poker, or sports gambling, for example.
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I think you’ll find that online gambling IS regulated, how else would these companies be granted a licence to operate?
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Bingo Betty – yes it is regulated, both in the UK and Alderney. The point is whether being licensed in one jurisdiction is enough if you are operating in other jurisdictions.
The essence is that UK consumers will access sites without knowing where the operator is located and what regulation applies to it. This measure is not targeted at Alderney, but will capture all sites wherever they are located. The UK authorities understandably want to know that any site accessible from the UK meets the requisite domestic regulatory standards.
It also helps to control betting related crime – hence the need to share details about suspect betting patterns, which aside from being criminal activity in itself indirectly rips off other punters.
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TL
For the record I am not wrong. You are. Thank you!
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TL
You must be in the perfect position to be the bearer of good news to the Landsbanki savers also then.
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Paul – “For the record I am not wrong. You are. Thank you!”. Well, with reasoning like that, how can I possibly argue??! ;-)
Our own POI Law could be interpreted as preventing overseas persons from promoting shares in Guernsey via a website unless they have a Guernsey licence. The GFSC has chosen to adopt a policy that a website that is not specifically targeted at Guernsey will not be considered to be promotion in Guernsey.
However, other jurisdictions (such as the US) are not so relaxed about these matters.
The same reasoning applies to on-line gambling (which the US already has strict laws about). The article suggests that this is targeted at sites which are advertised in the UK – so it seems that they are adopting a similar line to that adopted by the GFSC in relation to shares.
Not quite sure why Landsbanki is relevant.
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