Speaking at Montreal\’s GIGSE, Lawrence Lessig, a Stanford University law professor and founder of the university\’s Centre for Internet and Society, told about 1,600 delegates from around the world that the online gambling industry should be prepared for governments to regulate it.
“Today it is, effectively, unregulable. But it\’s a mistake to bet the industry on the capacity to escape government\’s ability to regulate,” he said.
Within five years, Lessig predicted, cyberspace will be divided by virtual borders and Internet users subject to national laws.
“That Internet will mean that freedom will be a function of your passport. What you\’re allowed to do in different places on the Internet will depend on where you come from.”
“Nations will enact laws and sign treaties just like they do to enforce current laws on their citizens,” he said.
Lessig\’s claims were supported by Sue Schneider, chairwoman of the Interactive Gaming Council, who warned industry players that need to plan their future with the possibility of regulation in mind.
“It\’s not going to be the free ride is has been,” she said.
“This whole industry is built on the Internet and people need to be looking further out in the future than they have been.”
In separate news, Aristotle International\’s Integrity and the National Council on Problem Gambling have partnered to expand the capacity of the Integrity:OnLine age and ID-verification system by developing and operating the Global Self-Exclusion Database (GSED).
GSED is a worldwide, confidential and highly secure database of individuals who have chosen to exclude themselves from gaming activity. Should an individual whose name is on the list attempt to open an account with a participating gaming site, Integrity:OnLine would not return a match (approval) code to the merchant, thus blocking the user’s access to the site.
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