Inability
To Monitor, Control & Collect Taxation -
this is by far the major reason for all the
anti online gambling bills against internet
casinos. You see over 95% of the online casinos
are licensed and operated in places outside
of the jurusdiction of the USA, like Antigua,
Costa Rica, Curacao, Kahnawake, Malta and Cyprus.
This is where the servers are located and hence
where the bets originate.
Unlike land based casinos in the USA which are
licensed by its state and where the books can
be audited the internet casinos are not so easy
to regulate and the majority of them are privately
run and not traded on any of the worlds stock
exchanges. This makes them easy to be manipulated
to scam an unsupsecting public.
With over 2500 internet casinos currently in operation
probably less than 50 are truly above board and
can be classified as reputable, honest business
institutions. It is for this reason one has to
be truly selective and very discerning when choosing
an internet casino to play in.
If only the US Gov't would take some time to research
and update their gambling laws they could easily
issue their own licenses and so allow the gaming
servers to be on US soil. This would result in
a legitimizing of the industry and the rise of
honest and reputable publicly traded companies
promoting internet casinos as safe havens for
your entertainment. These companies would pass
the stringent tests necessary to be listed on
the exchanges, to raise capital for expansion
etc.
It certainly seems like a no brainer and why it
is not being done is anybody's guess. As expected
the Europeans are way ahead of the Americans as
far as legalising the industry is concerned. Even
the Canadians are pullimg ahead. The solution
is simple, pass new laws for internet casinos,
legalise the industry, establish code of ethics
and best practices, enforce stringent audit procedures,
collect the taxes and it's a win win situation
of all concerned. |
