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April 16, 2004 at 5:36 am #585138AnonymousGuest
Website could be precursor to online gambling
By MICHAEL TUTTON / The Canadian Press
An online club that has attracted 24,000 Atlantic Canadians will be used to set up one of the country’s first legal Internet gambling sites if the Atlantic Lottery Corp.’s board approves the plan, the agency’s president has confirmed.
Michelle Carinci, in an interview with The Canadian Press, said the website is already being used to create a database of potential online gamblers.
“If we were to go online, yes, certainly we would have a database of players that have already shown an interest . . . that we could open up the market to fairly quickly.”
While there are hundreds of betting sites on the Internet, most of them based offshore or operated by native bands, provincial lotteries have yet to enter the market because the Criminal Code prevents them from selling outside their provincial boundaries.
Meanwhile, Atlantic Lottery’s new eClub Rewards site encourages users to enter contests and play lighthearted games, such as online air hockey, in return for submitting personal information.
Gambling critics say the database, which includes players’ ages, addresses and even mothers’ maiden names, will allow the corporation to offer online gambling without violating the prohibition on interprovincial sales.
Armed with such a comprehensive list, the Atlantic Lottery Corp. could use it to prove its online gamblers are of legal age and from the region.
It’s a clever but misguided use of online technology, said Sol Boxenbaum, head of the Montreal counselling firm Viva Consulting.
“They’ll get around the export prohibition,” he said. “(But) . . . it’s not preventing, but actually creating, more gambling problems down the road.”
Other jurisdictions appear to be headed in the same direction, he added.
For example, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. is selling subscriptions for lottery ticket sales, provided customers either mail, e-mail or fax personal information and a credit card number to the corporation.
“They suddenly have a list of names of people who gamble. That’s what casinos do when you get a player’s card. They’re gathering data and building up a client base,” said Boxenbaum.
Carinci insisted the Atlantic Lottery Corp.’s move toward online gaming is driven by ethical motives.
With the rise of about 1,800 unregulated online betting sites worldwide, governments must consider whether to offer the option of online betting that is legal and controlled.
“The other issue is the revenues leaving the region,” she said.
Carinci argues setting up provincial systems will lessen that drain of gambling cash to foreign operations.
However, the Atlantic website’s use of online computer games – such as Challenge the Chimp, a rock-paper-scissors game played against a shifty-eyed primate – concerns experts who are studying the rise of youth gambling addictions.
Jeffrey Derevensky, director of a gambling research institute at McGill University in Montreal, said the Atlantic Lottery site – the most advanced in the country – holds an attraction to younger players.
He said governments are rushing into Internet gambling, eager for fresh revenues but unaware of the impact on young people.
“Nobody’s going to let a nine-year-old walk into a casino. But how do you ensure a nine-year-old isn’t going to gamble on the computer. Nobody’s monitoring one end of the game,” he said.
“This has potential to be a very big problem.”
Carinci said outside agencies are already cross-referencing the data received in the online club to ensure members are of legal age.
“If we were ever to offer goods and services online, that due diligence is very, very rigorous and we’re working very closely with the third parties who would do that,” said Carinci.
She said it remains unclear when the corporation will present an online gambling proposal to its board of directors, which includes representatives from all four Atlantic provinces.
April 16, 2004 at 5:44 pm #648070AnonymousInactiveAh Canadians, legalized online gambling, and legalied Marijuana. The true north strong and free. Gotta love it
April 16, 2004 at 5:48 pm #648071vladcizsolMemberCanada is more and more looking like the land of the free.
April 16, 2004 at 9:18 pm #648075AnonymousInactivelast month the Canadian courts ruled that downloading music
on the internet via peer to peer is LEGAL.:rolleyes:
(the music industry appealed)
April 16, 2004 at 9:28 pm #648076AnonymousInactiveI love Canada.
I can smoke weed at my friend’s gay wedding while I download music off the Internet and gamble online.
Vancouver, the Amsterdam of North America
April 16, 2004 at 11:57 pm #648078AnonymousInactiveOriginally posted by sysdomatic
I love Canada.I can smoke weed at my friend’s gay wedding while I download music off the Internet and gamble online.
Vancouver, the Amsterdam of North America
:rollover: :rollover: :rollover: :rollover:
April 17, 2004 at 12:21 am #648080AnonymousInactiveOriginally posted by sysdomatic
I love Canada.I can smoke weed at my friend’s gay wedding while I download music off the Internet and gamble online.
Vancouver, the Amsterdam of North America
and watching hockey games in June, while eating peameal bacon sandwiches with my touque on……
any other canadians want to continue
April 17, 2004 at 12:55 am #648081AnonymousGuestOriginally posted by sysdomatic
I love Canada.I can smoke weed at my friend’s gay wedding while I download music off the Internet and gamble online.
Vancouver, the Amsterdam of North America
:burnafatt
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