The burgeoning U.S. on-line gambling industry must stop resorting to tactics aimed at evading government regulation, and prepare for a future in which it will have no choice but to deal with it, says a cyberspace legal expert.
“My argument is that it's a mistake to bet the industry on the capacity to escape the government's ability to regulate,” Stanford University law professor and author Lawrence Lessig said Tuesday in the keynote speech at the Global Interactive Gaming Summit & Expo.
New technologies being developed by Microsoft Corp. and other software giants will soon make it possible to authenticate the identity of a computer user anywhere in the world, said Mr. Lessig, the author of two books about Internet regulation.
That ID technology will, in turn, allow governments around the world to co-operate on a global approach to cyberspace regulation, including gambling, he said.
Under threat of prosecution in the U.S., gambling site operators have set up on-line casinos and poker rooms offshore.
On-line gambling is legal in some countries, including Britain and Costa Rica, and the World Trade Organization ruled last year that the United States was violating its free-trade obligations by banning Internet gambling.
But U.S. law enforcement officials continue trying to curtail on-line gambling, persuading some banks and electronic payment services, for example, to prohibit use of their credit cards or pay systems for the placing of electronic bets.
ID technology would allow governments to impose controls, such as compelling companies that facilitate on-line gambling to ensure their customers are not from the state of Utah, where betting is illegal, Mr. Lessig said after his presentation.
The ID systems will integrate privacy protection measures, he said.
What the players in the $12-billion (U.S.) on-line gambling industry must do now is exercise their democratic rights to push for change in how the law is used to regulate their business, he told the audience.
There are basic rules and regulations that can help make the Internet a more secure and reliable place, but action must be taken to ensure governments don't go too far on the legal front, he said.
On-line gambling has been growing at a rapid clip and is increasingly viewed as an investment opportunity with great potential.
source : Globe and Mail
