Government to crackdown on online gambling ads

The government has signalled a crackdown on illegal online gambling advertisements in advance of changes to gambling legislation that will allow online gambling to be operated from the UK for the first time.

Speaking at the AGM of the British Casino Association, the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport Tessa Jowell, said online casino and poker adverts that break the law face prosecution.

In her speech the Secretary of State acknowledged concerns over the increase in potentially illegal advertising by online gambling operators and said action would be taken against advertisers and publishers if adverts continued to cross the line.

The Gaming Board for Great Britain has previously stated that in their view the Gaming Act 1968, which is still in force in this area, is breached if any incentive, inducement or encouragement to gamble is offered in the advertising.

Ms Jowell said: "It's clear that some adverts have been breaking the existing law. I am not willing to turn a blind eye to this and have agreed with the Gambling Commission that we should crack down on advertisers and publishers who knowingly break the law. We will issue them with new guidance and I am putting them on notice that we won't hesitate to ask the Crown Prosecution Service to act."

This crackdown will be accompanied by more detailed guidance to on-line operators, advertisers and publishers from the Government and the Gambling Commission.

Any operators from deliberately flouting the law could face £5,000 fines and/or up to two years in prison.

Online casino and poker rooms currently operate offshore but the Gambling Act 2005 will enable them to operate from Great Britain for the first time.

Passed in April this year the Act does not come fully into force until September 2007, at which time on-line gamblers will have access to a properly regulated British on-line casino industry with robust protections in place for children and the vulnerable.

The Act also provides the Secretary of State with powers to restrict future gambling advertising should the self-regulation by the advertising industry prove insufficient.

Tessa Jowell also announced plans to further strengthen the board of the new gambling regulator the Gambling Commission with at least one more member with expertise in social responsibility.

(SP/KMcA)