Quote:
Originally Posted by Hood
Ha, you link to 2 thin rewrites of articles we wrote. Sites always pull out and enter markets. I spoke with the execs at both sites about these withdrawals; they were not UK related.
Anyway, we'll see. Thanks for the info.
Yeah I have noticed before an ability for stories to go unattributed. I wasn't really claiming that these changes were a direct result of the legislation. increased concern about grey markets has been knocking about since Black Friday, not just for the industry but for regulators too.
The confusing thing with legislation in this area is not just its complexity but the willingness to act. Now the IGA in Aus clearly makes it an offence to offer poker there from overseas and yet it is unenforced.
Section 42 makes it an offence to cheat at online poker in the UK but it is never enforced, rarely enforced for any cheating......and more relevantly here section 44 of the act makes it a criminal offence for a UK site to provide gambling in a jurisdiction where it is prohibited:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/19/section/44
Quote:
Provision of unlawful facilities abroad
(1)A person commits an offence if he does anything in Great Britain, or uses remote gambling equipment situated in Great Britain, for the purpose of inviting or enabling a person in a prohibited territory to participate in remote gambling.
(2)In subsection (1) “prohibited territory” means a country or place designated for the purpose of this section by order made by the Secretary of State.
(3)An order under subsection (2) shall prescribe the mode of trial and maximum penalty for an offence under subsection (1).
Now I have no idea where the banned list is, or which countries are on it, whether the Secretary of State (Mary Millar who is a bit tied up with her expenses scandal right now) has bothered to issue an order about how it would be enforced and at what level of punishment ......but the law is on the book and now the UK is forcing international suppliers and the decamped UK firms who set up in Gibraltar to have a UK licence and a UK address.
When the remote gambling licences are in the UK the UKGC pretty much has to care about the prohibited list - the UKGC and the industry may have some special "its the law but we have a get out of gaol free card" arrangement going on but the moment some Aussie minister rings up and asks - oi why is a UK licenced firm breaking the IGA in our country what is the UK minister gonna say?
I have lived my life being wrong about many things, I could well be wrong here too but I genuinely do believe this is a bigger deal than the industry has yet realised and that is why in the discussion on the LCCP going on now there are some silly negotiations about reporting levels for when the licensee has to explain why they are sure it is legal for them to do what they are doing and bigger questions about whether a licenced B2B poker network can have a non UK licensed B2C that focuses on a grey market join their network and share player liquidity.
This discussion cuts to the heart of the player fund protection rules that the UKGC have already hinted will be tougher for poker than other gambling and as it is new - the B2B bits have never been licensed before, both the firms and the regulator are treading on new ground.
Last edited by Richas; 04-06-2014 at 05:28 PM.
Reason: typo