Congress Encouraged to Take Action on Internet Gaming Regulation
Prime Table Games, a Las Vegas
based casino game development company, today ran a full-page statement in
the global edition of The Wall Street Journal to coincide with a
Congressional hearing scheduled for April 2, 2008 related to proposed
regulations to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).
The statement in The Wall Street Journal, entitled "Who Will Face the
Issues," is an outline of regulatory problems with international Internet
gaming, particularly as they relate to gaming fraud, consumer protection,
and protection of intellectual property rights.
"It is well known that there are off-shore based Internet gaming
operators who are engaged in deceptive practices with American consumers
and international players, and there is no adequate system in place to
ensure full and appropriate regulation," said Derek Webb, founder of Prime
Table Games. "Congress needs to take action soon, or these practices will
only get worse."
The House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy,
Trade and Technology will be addressing issues involving Internet gaming on
April 2 at 10 a.m. EDT. Prime Table Games published statement encourages
Congress to adopt specific regulatory strategies for consumer protection in
Internet gaming.
These regulatory strategies include limitations on solicitations and
incentives to gamble, such as bonuses and cash backs; prohibition of
affiliate relationships; standard player verification procedures. Players
also should be able to self-exclude from Internet gambling sites, and those
requests should automatically apply to all sites.
In addition, Internet gambling debts should not be legally recoverable,
and the site operator should bear the responsibility to ensure identity
verification and that the player can afford to gamble at the level played.
A player not paying gambling debts should automatically be placed on an
exclusion list from all Internet gambling sites.
"Internet gaming, by its very nature, has great potential for abuse,"
said Webb. "Site operators also should pay fees towards problem gambling
treatment and research."
Prime Table Games is a small development company that creates content
for casino games, including "Three Card Poker," and "21+3." The company can
be contacted at ws1@primetablegames.net.
2008-04-25
