Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Online gambling Rules and Laws around the world

People in most nations gamble online, but countries have different rules and regulations to keep it in check, from declaring online gambling strictly illegal to allowing only state-controlled operators. It doesn’t always work: Canadians alone spend $1-billion annually on grey-market gambling.

Illegal:

Since 2006, online gambling has technically been illegal in the United States, though the U.S. is one of the largest global markets for it. The House financial services committee passed a motion in July to re-legalize and regulate online gambling, and Congress may complete the legislation by the fall.
Online gambling has been declared explicitly illegal in many Asian countries. China has prohibited all gambling since 1949, and announced a major crackdown on online gambling earlier in the year. In India, all gambling is prohibited, although some Goa hotels have casinos. Most Indian states don’t have online gambling laws, but it is banned in the Maharashtra state while Sikkim state offers an online lottery. Islamic law bans all forms of gambling, including online, so many Muslim countries prohibit it.

Legal but state-controlled:

Many countries have legal online gambling, but only through state-owned and approved operators. Canada allows online gambling only through province-regulated operators such as the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. Other Internet gambling operators are not allowed to advertise in the country, but many sneak through.

Antigua and Barbuda was one of the first countries to license online gambling in 1994. The islands meticulously regulate the activity, and licences cost about $75,000 (U.S.).

Most countries in the EU have legal online gaming, but again it’s mostly regulated. The Netherlands and Sweden, for example, allow only state-owned operators.

Legal and open to foreign operators:

The U.K. allows foreign operators but requires them to get permission from an approved regulator. In Denmark and France, foreign operators have to secure a licence and pay a fee. State-owned PAGOR controlled online gambling in the Philippines for many years, but the country opened its doors to foreign competition in 2001.

Australia’s online-gambling regulations target operators only. In 2001, the government made providing gambling sites to Australian residents an offence, but it’s perfectly legal to play poker or casino games online – from any country – as long as the operators don’t advertise in Australia.

No comments:

Post a Comment

21 Cards Rummy