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10 August 2007

One thousand gambling websites face advertising ban...

A [British] Government crackdown on gambling adverts from jurisdictions that don’t meet the UK’s strict regulatory standards will lead to about one thousand gambling websites being banned from advertising in the UK.

Regulations to be laid in Parliament today [August 9] use new powers in the Gambling Act 2005 to ban gambling adverts from companies operating outside the European Economic Area (EEA). The move means that some popular gaming websites will not be able to advertise in the UK from September 1st 2007, when the Gambling Act comes into force.

Independent research suggests there are around 2 300 gambling websites worldwide. Antigua is considered to have the largest number with around 537 sites followed by Costa Rica (474), Kahnawake (Canadian Reservation) (401) and the Netherlands Antilles (343).

Jurisdictions who wanted to be exempt from the ad ban had to pass a stringent assessment of their regulatory standards.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, James Purnell, has rejected applications to join the exempted ‘white list’ from Alexander (Canadian Reservation), Netherlands Antilles and Tasmania. Applications from Kahnawake and Antigua are still being considered.

Gambling operators in jurisdictions that did not apply to be white listed are also automatically banned from 1st September too. These include major online gambling centres like Costa Rica and Belize.

Sites such as William Hill Casino, Betfred Casino and Poker, Interpoker.com and Littlewoodscasino.com are all currently based in non-white listed jurisdictions.

Only Alderney and the Isle of Man were able to demonstrate that they had in place a rigorous licensing regime designed to stop children gambling, protect vulnerable people, keep games fair and keep out crime. Countries in the EEA did not have to apply to be white listed.

James Purnell said:

“I make no apology for banning adverts for websites operating from places that don’t meet our strict standards. Protection is my number one priority. The fact that only Alderney and the Isle of Man have been able to meet the high standards demanded by our white listing criteria shows how tough the Gambling Act is. Indeed white listing has actually helped drive up regulatory standards in some countries.

“The Isle of Man, for example, has made significant improvements to their regulatory regime in order to secure a place on the white list. This includes requiring all licensees to make contributions to problem gambling research, education and treatment in line with requirement on UK operators.”

The ban will apply to all forms of gambling advertising from excluded jurisdictions including TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, taxis, buses, the tube and some websites. If operators, publishers, broadcasters and advertising companies break the rules, they could face fines or even imprisonment.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, will keep under review Alderney and the Isle of Man’s regulatory regimes to ensure that they continue to meet the white list criteria.

Figures recently published by the Gambling Commission found that over the four quarters to June 2007, 8.6 percent of the 8 000 adults surveyed had participated in at least one form of remote gambling in the previous month. If those only playing the National Lottery remotely are excluded, 5.9 percent of respondents had participated in remote gambling.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa