ecent reports of increased problem gambling have the government concerned enough that they would like to change the way they do business with gaming operators.
Back in 2005, the Gambling Act made it easier for online gaming sites to operate in the UK, and the law is now being blamed for the way the industry has been largely unregulated in recent years. Even with the lack of regulations, companies that had been based in the UK, such as William Hill and Ladbrokes, left for lower tax rates in Gibraltar.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is considering a ban on credit card use to deposit money into online gaming accounts. That ban would be considered an effort to stop the growth of problem gambling in the UK. Many of these new ideas, however, may have a hard time getting by the European Commission.
The UK does have some of the toughest laws in place to ensure that companies do not target children in their ads. Unfortunately, the foreign companies are not always held to the same standards, leaving the UK government to consider changing their advertising laws.
Under the new proposal, companies doing business with UK customers would have to obtain an online gambling license. That would create a system where the foreign companies would have to abide by UK advertising laws.
