It is becoming more and more obvious that Jeremy Hunt (Sec. Culture) is on the hunt for stricter online gambling regulations in the UK. This has been a matter bubbling under for some time now, but seems to have regained new life in the wake of the US DoJ action which took place against a number of so-called illegal online poker sites in the US. The DoJ (Department of Justice) effectively took down the biggest of these sites – PokerStars as well as FullTilt and some other smaller operators. It also looks as though FullTilt has not been able to make a recovery. All of this took place on April 15th, 2011, which has now been dubbed ‘Black Friday’!
Jeremy Hunt has now been reported to be in the process of planning radical change which will affect UK white listing status with regards to offshore licensing. They effectively want to change how offshore operators are regulated. We are still awaiting any announcements in this regard, and are expecting them to be quite imminent.
Reports have also been released which intimate that taxation for online bingo and other gambling activities would seriously affect online players, and this is actually not the case. Certainly not at this point in time! At this juncture the Government is keen to get operators to step into line, and UK online bingo players and gamblers would benefit from any regulatory changes.
In effect it would only mean that their playing would be, if anything, safer online, and with stricter licensing regulation in place; they would not be exposed to any unscrupulous operators. With better regulation, better dispute mechanisms would also be in situ and as the first thing being looked at is advertising rights – through the vehicle of white listing. Not just any online gambling or bingo operator would be able to ply their wares through British TV and other media.
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