SPORTINGBET VETERAN SPEAKS OUT ON ONLINE GAMBLING BANS

(536) (27-September-2006)

Fiscal protectionism masked by political manoeuvring and adroit public relations the real agenda

Veteran industry professional and soon to stand down Sportingbet CEO Nigel Payne spoke out against online gambling bans in an interview with The Times of London this week.

Long an articulate proponent of government regulated and taxed online gambling, Payne explained  how not so hidden agenda have played an important role in recent arrests of online gambling executives, including that of Sportingbet colleague Peter Dicks .

"The key to a proper understanding of what is happening in the internet gambling industry is to look at the agenda of some of those who seek to criticise it," Payne argued in the Times interview.  "I believe that the real picture that emerges is one of fiscal protectionism that is being masked by political manoeuvring and adroit public relations.

Payne says that a good example of banning rationalisation is the often-used and emotive issue of under-age gambling. "We are told that the industry is a social pariah, a danger to children. Although internet gambling may provide the capability for minors to participate in unsupervised gambling, the truth is that the industry has long been able to demonstrate that it has the technology to mitigate such risks.

"The US House of Representatives recently passed a Bill - H.R.4411 - to "ban internet gambling". A central pillar of the Bill was that the industry is "a risk to the children of America". What struck me as odd was that the House never asked whether technology existed to mitigate the concerns.