Sunday, August 01, 2004

The government responds to underage gambling report

Government to crack down on online gambling by children

As expected, the government has responded almost immediately to last week's report that underage children can gamble online. However, its not the kneejerk reaction I thought I might hear - but one that is actually - surprisingly- steeped in common sense.

- Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, said that the Gambling Commission will conduct spot-checks on gambling websites

And so they should. But it shouldn't take an ill-researched survey for this to happen

- Bookmakers should conduct rigorous age verification checks or face fines

Agreed. Like shopkeepers should for selling underage kids cigarettes and alcohol

Ms Jowell continued at how shocked she was to hear about underage kids gambling on the internet. Its all slightly alarmist, but the reaction about issuing penalties and fines surely didn't need to be in place simply because of the report. It should have been thought about regardless - whether about online or land-based gambling

At the end of the day, all this has shown is that the government, in releasing their gambling reviews, have paid little attention to the online environment. Its still up to the bookies and casinos to do what they can to stop underage gambling. But its also up to the banks to help in all this in the bigger picture and so far, I see no-one from the government pointing their finger at these institutions

Related Blog:
That nasty internet makes kids gamble

posted by jo @ 1:51 PM   0 comments

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