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Pierre Carrillo MCCNM 336 December 2nd , 2003
Online Gambling Gambling has been a big part of United States history. In fact, gambling was an accepted practice in some of the original thirteen colonies. At one point in time, all thirteen colonies were holding lotteries to raise revenue for themselves. Regardless of how you felt about playing the lottery, it was in fact a civic responsibility. Gambling has since come a long way from mandatory lotteries. It was really popularized between 1869 and 1910 when gambling was legalized in Nevada. Although there are some who feel strongly against gambling, it has become a widely accepted practice in today's society. That was until recently, when the internet had become such a huge part of our everyday lives. With the evolution of technology come the new problems that will face society. Gaming sites have sprung up all over the web in recent years which have caused a big uproar particularly in legislation. The main reason is because there are no tax requirements on the web. In other words, these online gaming commissions are able to operate without having to pay certain taxes to the government. Online gambling draws in around $6 billion annually. Certain senators pushing for more legislation on the industry say that the United States is harmed because of lost tax revenue and negative social consequences. There have been recent pushes for bills in congress that would prohibit all unregulated forms of online gambling. One of the most recent ones passed this past June. Other bills have successfully managed to bar the use electronic money transfers or any other bank instrument to pay for any unregulated form of online gambling. Even credit card companies such as American Express and Visa have refused to process certain transactions from unregulated companies. Since the start of online gambling about eight years ago, the World Wide Web has sprung up more than 1800 gambling sites, most of them being off shore in small island nations. The Federal Department of Justice has maintained that betting online, is a violation of the Interstate Wireline Act of 1961, which regulates telephone sports bets. U.S. Representative Jim Leach, R-Iowa, a supporter of online gambling legislation said, “There is no regulation of gambling on the internet and no protection for the consumer.” One of Leach's main concern's, is that online gambling will cause users to become addicted which would lead to more bankruptcies, divorces, and even suicides. Some experts estimate that there are around 5.5 million Americans (2% of the U.S. population) who are compulsive gamblers and around 15 million Americans who are at risk of becoming compulsive gamblers, according to the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling (NCALG). One of the NCALG's concerns about online gambling is that the user can lose so much with just a click of a mouse. They don't even have to leave their house. Another major concern is that teenagers can get access to their parent's credit card number and gamble away money before moms and pops realize what happened. Fraud is another area of concern. The user doesn't know if the site they are on is a legitimate site. Types/Operation of Online Gambling Online gambling comes in several different flavors. There are free on-line lotteries which are lotteries, contests and sweepstakes that are free to play. Another form is sports books, which the user bets on sporting events. Race books are another form of online gambling which are bets on horse and dog races. Online Casino's are probably one of the most common forms of online betting. An online casino offers casino games such as black jack and poker over your computer. Another form of online gambling that really hasn't been too highly criticized is online stock trading sites. It's kind of interesting how there hasn't been much criticism on these online traders, but that's a whole other paper. Ever wonder how these online sites operate? The first thing you need is money, in one form or another. Credit cards, electronic checks, certified checks, money orders, even wire transfers are all means to get you started. They don't care how you get it, just as long as you got it. You then put your money into an account that is set up by the user. You also need to provide your banking information so they casino will know where to send your winnings, provided you win. Once you have your account set up, you can begin your journey through the vast landscapes of the online gambling world. If you are lucky enough to win, your earnings will be put into your account. From that point you can either keep the account open and continue gambling with your newly won loochie, or close the account and have a check sent to you via snail mail. On the other hand, if you happen to lose, you money will be snatched from your account quicker then you can say “what the f**k just happened?” It's so easy to bet online for anyone. I really think that maybe it should be regulated to a certain extent. I think keeping children away from these sites should be one of the main concerns. These days, children have more knowledge of the internet than most adults. It would be simple for kids to steal mom's credit card and go wild on one of these sites. Incidents like this are important reasons to take a look at regulation. On the other hand, I feel that it wouldn't be fair to just single out online gaming companies as far as the regulation goes. Most supporters of the regulation bills I think only see the money part of it. They see how much money the online gaming industry makes annually and quite frankly, they want a part of it. If online gaming companies are forced to pay a tax for doing business over the internet, then that would probably be the end of tax free shopping on the internet. In closing, I think the online gaming industry should be looked at, but should be looked at fairly and not one-sided. All aspects of the industry, both good and bad need to be discussed and an agreement should be made. If not, off shore gambling sites are going to continue to flourish and the United States isn't going to see a dime in tax money from the industry. Crowley, D. & Welch, A. Online Gambling: Types of Online Gambling and the Ethics of the Issue. Retrieved October 15, 2003 from http://www.uri.edu/personal/awel5922/gambling.index.html Dunstan, Roger. Gambling in California. Retrieved November 24, 2003 from http://www.library.ca.gov/CRB/97/03/Chapt2.html Kady II, Martin. (2003, June) Gambling Bill: House Decides To Hold'em. CQ Weekly, 23, p1393. Retrieved September 17, 2003 from the Academic Search Elite database http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=10036544&db=aph&site=ehost" McCarthy, S. (2001, May) Nevada Gaming Indusrty Not Worried About the Threat of Online Gambling. Nevada Outpost. Retrieved October 15, 2003 from The Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada. http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost/gambling/game.mccarthy.gamblers.html Stone, Peter H. (2003, June) Odd Bedfellows on Internet Betting. National Journal, 24, p.1862. Retrieved September 17, 2003 from the Academic Search Elite database http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=10100214&db=aph&site=ehost" |