Britain Host to Online Gaming Talks

In a bid to gain support for the regulation of the industry and prevention of underage access, Britain plans to hold online gaming talks this year.

Anthony Wright, a spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport stated “We want to initiate a discussion about problem areas which include protection of children, advertising, money laundering and criminal infiltration”.

Britain is pushing the talks after seeing the generation of multi- billion dollar revenues from three large floats on the UK stock market in 2005.

With broadband access aiding the boom, online casinos and poker rooms grow ever more popular, forming a market valued at $12 billion a year.

In an attempt to modernize the country’s 40 year old gambling laws, Britain introduced the Gambling Act last year.

“We became the first industrialized nation to legalize online gaming… The reason we introduced the act was to regulate new forms of gambling. We can only get so far on our own.” commented Wright.

Positive feedback on the talks has so far been received from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.