| | |  | Last Updated: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |  | | | Against online gambling ?
- Thursday, 12 Apr 2007
With the United States' decision to prohibit online gambling on its territory, it seems everyone has an opinion on whether or not online gambling should be legal…But nothing is ever that simple and it is obvious that prohibition presents advantages as well as disadvantages. Let's take a look at them. Of course, we all know that the main argument of prohibition supporters is the morality one. They pretend, and believe, that online casino sites will give underage and problematic users the opportunity to gamble more than they should.
Maybe they are right. But what about the example of the United Kingdom then ? They had the same concerns over gamblers, but still decided to allow online gambling. With a difference though. The online gambling industry is carefully regulated by the government there. And it works. There are commissions that work with the government who closely follow everything that happens in the gambling world: new license issuing, addiction problems...
Of course, another reason for the American government to prohibit online gambling is to avoid American dollars to be spent on offshore online gambling activities. George Bush did not forbid American citizens to gamble online, he stopped U.S. financial institutions from transferring money to gambling companies and online sites. On a certain point of view, this can be understood. But the United States already have a history with prohibition, and we all know how it ended up...Maybe the government should find a better way to deal with this new phenomenon they consider a problem...
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