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Australian Internet Gaming Sites Battle
To Keep From Going "Down Under."
Faced with the possibility of a total ban on domestic Internet gambling
sites by the federal government, casino operators in the Northern
Territories, in cooperation with State Gaming regulators, have drafted
as set of rules that, they hope, will make such a move unnecessary.
Approved by the Australian Casino Association (ACA), the drafts
have been sent to other state governments for input.
The federal government has already imposed a twelve-month moratorium
on new Internet gambling sites but this is set to expire on May
19th. When the legislature meets after this date they will essentially
have four options.
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(A)
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To do nothing
and allow "business as usual." |
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(B)
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To extend
the moratorium. |
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(C)
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To ban all
domestic sites. |
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(D)
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To adopt the rules approved
by the ACA |
To forestall a total ban the operators have
proposed the following rules.
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(1)
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Internet gambling sites
would be subject to the same licensing requirements as other
gaming businesses. |
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(2)
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Services must be marketed
responsibly. |
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(3)
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Software must be secure
and easily audited with all transactions logged, and must pass
an independent test. |
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(4)
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Personal information must
not be transmitted without client's permission. |
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(5)
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Proof of ID required before
a client is allowed to register. |
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(6)
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No minors allowed to game. |
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(7)
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No credit card betting. |
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(8)
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Players to be allowed to
ban themselves from playing for a minimum of seven days, with
a total ban on playing after three self-exclusions. |
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(9)
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Players to be allowed to
set betting limits, and player returns provided. |
In addition, Internet gaming operators would
allot 1% of their revenues to anti-gambling programs.
The ACA emphasized that Australia
has had an excellent record of responsibility and safety in the
gaming industry, both on and off-line, and is concerned that a total
ban on domestic Internet gaming would only serve to drive bettors
to unregulated and insecure off-shore sites.
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