NEW ZEALAND DOESN'T LIKE ONLINE GAMBLING - BUT INTERNET LOTTO IS OK

21 March 2008

Big changes in store for lottery industry


The New Zealand government is exhibiting similar double standards to countries like the United States when it comes to Internet gambling, it appears - although online gambling is banned, exceptions have been created for lotteries, and a major initiative is currently underway to take this form of gambling onto the Internet.

The move will be groundbreaking and will change the landscape of the lottery in the future, reports Reuters. Back in 2003, the TAB and NZ Lotteries were excluded from an online gambling ban. The exemption was aimed at allowing the groups to offer the lottery online to keep people from spending their money with offshore companies.

But retailers who sell lottery tickets are concerned, saying that the new online sales will almost certainly hurt retailers.

"Am I expecting it to hurt? Yes. Look at my location, every Tom, Dick, and Harry around me has got Internet access. Would you wait here in the queue or go on the Net and print one out?," said a retail owner in Wellington.

The expected start time for the Internet sales is a few weeks. The guess is that the sale of the tickets on the Internet will eventually make the sales of lottery tickets in retail stores obsolete.

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