Legalisation of online gambling in US inevitable

The fourth of the summits held to discuss the issues and future of the online gambling industry in the US took place on Friday. The topic was the potential legalisation of online gambling within the US. Despite the recent developments last week with congress trying to attach an anti-online gambling bill, to anti-terrorism legislation in progress, there was still optimism expressed for the eventual permission and regulation of online gambling. The main cause for the belief that prohibition will be relaxed, is the belief that the state governments will be ultimately responsible for providing a solution. The Vice President of River City Group, and editor of Interactive Gaming News, Mark Balestra, presented the case that were already models existing for how online gambling could be successfully regulated at state level. He cited examples such as inter-state wagering on regional lotteries, as well as pari-mutuel gambling. The summits that have been held, hosted by BetOnSports, are part of a public policy initiative being held on a national level. Entitled “Proposition 1: To Regulate or Prohibit Online Gambling”, the summits have been held to encourage debates amongst industry experts, as well as leading figures in the media, advertising and academic sectors, discussing the issues crucial to the question of legalising the online gambling industry within the US. Across the four summits held so far, the majority expressed an opinion that the eventual lifting of the current prohibition on the industry was inevitable, and talk progressed to the best ways to regulate the industry for its consumers. The discussions, which are soon to be followed up by a series of debates held on college campuses, as well as a national advertising campaign, will be contributing to a white paper produced on the subject later this year.