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The debate over online gambling and whether it should be legal or illegal doesn’t seem to be abating. The issue is indeed a contentious one as well as one with many opinions, including the opinions that online gambling should be banned altogether and that it should not only not be banned, but that online casinos and poker rooms shouldn’t even be regulated. One of the biggest concerns with online gambling deals with underage gamblers. Since it is virtually impossible for webmasters to know the ages of people visiting their site, greater numbers of children can be exposed to gambling and all the social, financial, and emotional problems that sometimes accompany gambling. An equally pressing concern associated with online gambling is gambling addiction. Online gambling is perceived as posing a greater threat than traditional bricks and mortar casinos simply because online gambling sites make it so quick and easy to gamble. According to statistics, most people won’t bother gambling if they have to get up and go to a casino but if they can just click on a website to start gambling, they’ll gamble much more frequently. Yet another fear about online gambling is that it opens the door to too much fraudulent business practices. In an unlicensed and unregulated environment, there is no way to make sure that the games being played are legitimate or that players get paid their winnings. Tax advocates also point out another problem with an unregulated and unlicensed online gambling industry; the profits of online gamblers and online gambling sites cannot be taxed. The problems concerning fraud and taxation, however, seem to argue more for a regulated and licensed industry rather than a ban on the industry completely. It seems that the only thing clear about the whole online gambling question is that nothing is clear. And, since there are so many different legal, ethical, moral, and social perspectives on the activity and the industry, it doesn’t seem like a solution is forthcoming anytime soon. What does seem apparent is that the number of online casinos, poker rooms, and sports books will continue to grow as will the online gambling industry. Despite all the controversy surrounding online gambling and the efforts to either control it or ban it, there is tremendous consumer demand for online gambling. At least for now, the abundance of online gambling websites and the limited regulation makes it easy for just about anyone that wants to gamble over the Internet. Posted on: February 14, 2007
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