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Online Casino Industry goes on as normal in Costa Rica |
| The Costa Rican newspaper “Inside Costa Rica” has reported this weekend that despite the recent Congress legislation against online casino web sites, most of the online gambling operators in the country will continue their work as normal. Although the legislation doesn't make it illegal to place a bet in an online casino, it prohibits credit card companies from transferring funds to those sites. According to the newspaper, the companies, including one owned by Canadian billionaire Calvin Ayre, strongly believe that the new bill won’t affect their businesses at all. Right now there are about 200 online casino companies in Costa Rica, employing more than 10,000 people. One of those companies ,owned by Ayre, responded to the issue: “We still have some time to study the situation and plan our future accordingly. Nevertheless, we are sure that our business will have no problem adjusting to any situation and will continue its progress in the online gambling world”. Many other online casino companies based in Costa Rica quickly responded as well, most of them highlighting the fact that they will continue to provide their services to US citizens. Eduardo Agami, president of the Costa Rican electronic business association, was asked by the newspaper La Nacion about the situation: “The US should try to regulate the online casino activity, not ban it. The persecution of the industry only pushes it more into secrecy”. There’s no doubt that most of the managers of the online casino companies in Costa Rica would agree with Agami, but the big question is whether the US itself will try to do something about it too. |
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