| Top > News > 2005 > November > 20 Nov 2005 |
The debate about online betting |
| What sort of money could the US government be taking in if only online casino betting was legal in the United States? Sporting Bet’s Nigel Payne says that the US Treasury is missing out on revenues from taxes on online gambling companies: “We’ve calculated that, were America to have regulated the industry in 2004, the American states would have earned $1.2 billion in tax.” MGM/Mirage CEO Terry Lanni says, “There's gaming in every state but two in the United States. If it's legal in 48 states and it's regulated and taxed and we’re comfortable with it, why don't we allow it also in the area of the internet? It makes no sense.” The US government currently views online casinos gambling as illegal, though no specific federal laws ban the use of or operation of online casino companies. As Americans are gambling at online casinos anyway at the moment, they are doing so at sites which are based overseas, meaning that U.S. citizens aren’t protected from fraud and of course the US government isn’t taking in any of those online casino tax revenues. Which is worse? The answer you get depends on if you ask an online casino exec or a US Department of Justice official. Of course, the US is rightfully concerned about children accessing gambling sites and using their parent’s credit card information to illegally place bets online. What better way, though, to stop such nonsense at betting sites on the internet than by subjecting such sites to regulation for a measure of control you might not have anywhere else? Online betting sites aren’t just going to go away because you want them to. The very idea is laughable, and the US should realize this sooner rather than later, co-opting online betting and online casino sites and businesses rather than making them into opponents. It’s just a thought. |
Copyrighted 2005 © Bet At USA. All rights reserved.