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发表于 2008-3-16 20:18
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Online gambling may become legal in SA
2008-03-16
Currently, you could go to prison and also pay a massive fine for indulging — but Lady Luck may soon smile on you
South Africans indulging in online gaming in SA are doing so illegally — even if the service providers are based in another country or jurisdiction, or hold a licence to operate from another country.
Nobody has a licence for online gambling in this country.
Themba Marasha, chief operations officer of the National Gambling Board, said he had approached various bodies that have contravened the restriction on advertising, promoting and marketing online gambling organisations.
However, Internet gambling may soon become legal.
On Wednesday the Bill relating to Internet gambling went to the Select Committee of National Provinces. It will later be tabled in the National Assembly for final approval.
Currently, there is no protection for consumers with regard to Internet gambling. Should anyone have a claim against an online gaming site, they would have no recourse — not even with the help of the gaming board.
Marasha said the person concerned could in fact be arrested for engaging in an illegal activity.
When online gambling becomes legal in SA, the providers of such services and Internet service providers may apply for licences.
“The new law will enable people to licence Internet gambling, and South African citizens will be able to operate within a protected environment,” said Marasha.
He said that current offenders had little chance of obtaining licences. “Acts of wrongdoing will disqualify them should they want to apply for a licence in the new South African gambling environment,” he said.
Evelyn Masotja, the director for regulated industries at the trade and industry department, said that currently, Internet gambling was prohibited in SA in terms of the National Gambling Act, Act 7 of 2004.
“The gambling law does have penalties for contraventions,” he warned.
Under the Act, the penalty for anyone convicted of an offence is a fine of up to R10-million or imprisonment not exceeding 10 years — or he or she could face both a fine and imprisonment.
Masotja said the intention behind wanting to regulate the online gambling environment was to protect consumers, not to punish them — and to put proper control and monitoring systems in place.
“Players involved in interactive gambling currently play at their own risk and there’s no regulatory environment to protect them,” he said.
Howard Berchowitz, managing director of Casino Enterprises, trading as Piggs Peak Casino, has owned the establishment since 1988. The business went online in 1997.
The company is currently in court with the Gambling Board to establish where the gambling is located. “I’m not professing to be licensed, or to be operating in SA. We advertise our land-based product here, and advertise the Internet vehicle on the Internet, but not in traditional media.
“We believe our gambling is happening in Swaziland, and we pay our taxes there,” he said.
The online business has increased — and so has traditional gambling. Berchowitz said revenues from online gambling were ‘‘reasonable, but nowhere near where the bricks and mortar are at the moment, although I do believe the revenues will grow substantially”.
Although there is no reliable information on the extent of interactive gambling, it is known that regulators have been trying to combat this practice.
Marasha said the local jurisdiction would allow Internet gambling if operators met the requirements of South African national technical standards.
Internet gaming options on offer overseas include casino-type games, slot machines, lotteries, sports betting, race wagering, bingo, person-to-person betting (such as poker) and blackjack.
Masotja said that most operators were sited outside SA. They include SilverSands, Piggs Peak and African Palace Casinos. |
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发表于 2007-9-13 01:11
