Thursday, September 28, 2006

Fiscal protectionism masked by political manoeuvring and adroit public
relations the real agenda Veteran industry professional and soon to stand
down Sportingbet CEO Nigel Payne spoke out against online gambling bans in
an interview with The Times of London this week. Long an articulate
proponent of government regulated and taxed online gambling, Payne explained
how not so hidden agenda have played an important role in recent arrests of
online gambling executives, including that of Sportingbet colleague Peter
Dicks. "The key to a proper understanding of what is happening in the
internet gambling industry is to look at the agenda of some of those who
seek to criticise it," Payne argued in the Times interview. "I believe that
the real picture that emerges is one of fiscal protectionism that is being
masked by political manoeuvring and adroit public relations. Payne says that
a good example of banning rationalisation is the often-used and emotive
issue of under-age gambling. "We are told that the industry is a social
pariah, a danger to children. Although internet gambling may provide the
capability for minors to participate in unsupervised gambling, the truth is
that the industry has long been able to demonstrate that it has the
technology to mitigate such risks.

"The US House of Representatives recently passed a Bill - H.R.4411 - to "ban
internet gambling". A central pillar of the Bill was that the industry is "a
risk to the children of America". What struck me as odd was that the House
never asked whether technology existed to mitigate the concerns.

"Moreover, the Bill lists a number of internet gambling activities,
including horse racing and fantasy leagues, that would be exempt from any
ban. No explanation is offered about why such activities should be exempted,
nor why children might be at risk from, say, a bet on a hand of poker but
not from a bet on a horse race."