The Real Costs
Several key Western countries have opted to ban and block online casino gambling
as a way to control the industry as opposed to most European countries looking
for ways to effectively regulate internet gambling sites. Australia and the US
in particular have steadfastly stood by their attempts to prevent internet
gambling companies from accessing their national gambling markets; the results
have not been particularly positive in either country and the costs to the
national budget are actually quite significant. Blocking and banning online
casinos from accessing markets has drawn the concern of the World Trade
Organization and the European Union has engaged in lengthy negotiations with the
US Trade Representatives. For Australia, the state governments are facing
lawsuits from the online gambling companies claiming unfair market restrictions.
The costs of banning legislation for the online casinos goes beyond the loss of
potential tax revenues that the government could receive from licensed gambling.
In fact, it costs the US federal government a lot of money in manpower and
lawsuits to maintain this ban – and the outcome of the legislation is dubious at
best. There is no denying that the US and Australian online casino gambling bans
are questionably effective; many key internet gambling companies are still able
to avoid payment processing restrictions and access US players.
In Australia, legitimate foreign online casino gambling companies are vying for
entry into the market and the Australian state and national governments are
pouring millions into the lawsuits to combat the claims that the foreign
operators should have market access. For the US, the Department of Justice has
really focused on the payment processing companies and invested thousands of
man-hours into bringing down these companies, all the while other USTRs are
continually negotiating with Antigua, EU, and WTO officials. |