LVRJ EDITORIAL: A federal 'study' on Internet gaming

[clevfan]

May 10, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

EDITORIAL: A federal 'study' on Internet gaming

Can't put the genie back in the bottle


There was good news for the casino industry in the annual poll released this week by the research arm of the American Gaming Association.

Casino revenues were up 5 percent nationwide in 2005 -- with more than one-third of that total $30.3 billion win flowing to Nevada, according to the survey.

More important, in terms of long-term prospects, 83 percent of Americans now say they view gambling as a personal choice. Nearly 80 percent report they consider gambling an acceptable activity for themselves or others, and 72 percent see casinos as a valuable part of a community's entertainment and tourism options.

But more attention will likely be focused on the study's findings concerning Internet gaming.

Only 19 percent of those surveyed said they realized the activity is considered illegal in the United States

Maybe that helps explain why -- despite the fact that 55 percent of Internet gamblers believe online gaming companies find ways to cheat, and the fact that 46 percent believe their fellow players cheat online, AGA President Frank Fahrenkopf estimates $12 billion to $15 billion will be wagered online this year, with 60 percent of those funds -- $7 billion to $9 billion -- coming from U.S. residents.

Why? Convenience, primarily. "The same reason people go to 7-Eleven, easy access and open 24-7," explains Peter Hart, president of the nationally known firm that conducted the survey for the AGA. "There is also the comfort, the relaxation and the anonymity. They don't want to have to deal with crowds."

Four out of five Internet gamblers surveyed live in states without commercial casinos, Mr. Hart found.

At the end of April, the AGA board asked Congress to set up a federal commission to look at Internet gambling. The organization says it has remained neutral on federal legislation that would officially prohibit the practice, Mr. Fahrenkopf explaining that member companies are not currently involved in the online sector, but that some members, "such as MGM Mirage, have been bullish in looking at this issue."

So, is Internet gaming a dangerous competitor for brick-and-mortar casinos, or a future area of expansion?

The regulatory problems will be obvious to anyone who's ever considered answering an e-mail from Nigeria, speaking of millions going unclaimed in the bank account of some long-lost relative. What's the gambler's recourse if some "casino" which is really only a string of linked computers domiciled in some Third World backwater refuses to pay off?

Security, privacy, copyright protection, fraud prevention -- the free market has made great strides toward dealing with all these in Internet transactions, though the battle is ongoing.

The amounts of money involved in gaming simply raise the stakes.

But in the end, the pervasiveness of this technology answers the question for us. There is no putting the Internet genie back in its bottle. Even if we were willing to post an armed policeman to look over the shoulder of every computer user, this simply can't be accomplished without changing a once free country into an unrecognizably regimented prison camp.

More than anywhere, gamblers dialing up an anonymous Internet connection need the reassurance of known brand names. And what locality is better positioned to provide them than Las Vegas?

In the real world, laissez faire is often the best solution. But in Washington, the operative theory is that everything has to be either taxed and regulated, or else banned outright. Like fire, government is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Those who have summoned up this federal study had better decide what conclusion they want it to reach -- or they may find that someone else has made that decision for them.

[Juice]

The decision has already been made. Its a question of when the gov will let go and find some fish they can fry becuae the public has spoken.


More than anywhere, gamblers dialing up an anonymous Internet connection need the reassurance of known brand names. And what locality is better positioned to provide them than Las Vegas?

How about the offshores if they got there act together and maybe learned some customer service skills as well as basic operational ones to start. Maybe take a few
notes from the Gibraltar laws and let people know whos making, operating and maintaining the software. Maybe, GASP show some pictures of where this money might be going. Some of the faces behind the operations. In other words build trust.

I could go on and on but I wont.