Online Gambling Issues
Online gambling is any type of gambling conducted via the internet. This includes casinos, online poker and online sports betting. The first online gambling site opened for the public, was ticket selling for the infamous Liechtenstein International Horse Racing in October 1994.
As states began to enact legislation designed to protect online gamblers from exploitation, several other states also began to enact legislation that criminalized online gambling sites. The U.S.A. is one of very few countries in the world which has laws designed to prohibit both online gambling and the transfer of money online. The U.S.A. is unique in that all of its online gambling ban acts are related to the implementation of “strictly controlled gaming” within the state. The problem with this approach is that it creates a double standard whereby a different standard is applied when the same activity occurs online as it is when it occurs in a traditional casino or another location offline. Many countries throughout the world have moved to either create their own online gambling regulation, or have a combination of both regulate online betting and transfer of funds.
In the U.S., the problem is that there is no single industry governing online gambling, making it difficult for the government to regulate. Instead, the states are left to address the issues on an individual basis. One concern is the possibility of corruption within the online poker industry, given that there are no real world players to be held accountable to. Another concern is the impact of online gambling on the real world casino industry, which can be a deterrent to players from playing their favorite games online. Lastly, it is important for online poker companies to realize that they must provide adequate safeguards to ensure that privacy policies and proper deposit procedures do not give them a competitive advantage over Internet based casinos in terms of customer service and security.