The Culture Secretary of the U.K. has criticized the United States for its recent attempt at banning online gambling just as she's getting ready to host a multi-nation symposium on government involvement in this field.
In an interview with the Financial Times published today, Tessa Jowell compared the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act to alcohol prohibition of the 1920s and said that the UIGE Act may create the equivalent of online "modern-day speakeasies."
"America should have learned the lessons of prohibition," Jowell said.
As the Culture Secretary, Jowell is in charge of the government office of Culture, Media and Sport, of which the U.K.'s Gambling Commission is part. By September of next year, online gambling will be completely legal in the U.K. and online gambling companies will be allowed to relocate there and offer remote gambling services to the world. This criticism is particularly harsh considering the relationship the U.K. and the U.S. share.
The UIGE Act was snuck into a bill concerning port safety when senators met last month in the final session before they went on an extended recess scheduled for the election. The president signed the port security bill in a ceremony Oct. 13 without once mentioning the UIGE Act.
To read about the act, click here, and to visit CardPlayer.com's page dedicated to covering this issue, click here.
The symposium takes place Oct. 31, and delegates will discuss ways to protect the public through age verification systems, the role of government and online gambling, and the societal implications of online gambling, among other topics. Delegates from France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere are expected to attend.
The passing of the UIGE Act has initiated an effort that seems intent on attacking the recent move to stem online gambling by the U.S. government. While more than 80 nations of the world have the policy that online gambling should be considered a commodity to be traded, taxed, and regulated, several politicians here in America have worked for years to try to stop its citizens from taking part.
The World Trade Organization has ruled against the U.S. in a case when Antigua and Barbuda, the smallest member of the WTO, complained that the U.S. government's stance on online gambling violates WTO policy of free trade. The U.S. has kept quiet about the ruling and has done nothing except blindly stick to its guns that online gambling should not be legal to its citizens.
Antigua and Barbuda is in the process of filing another complaint against the U.S. Click here to read about it.
And since the U.K. will soon join Antigua and Barbuda as a country that taxes and regulates online gambling, the U.S. stands to face even more pressure from one of the richest nations in the world, which also happens to be one of its strongest allies.
