Originally Posted by Doolally
Changing the wording of certain articles so as not to incite gambling seems to be taking the most time.
Inciting to gambling per se is not necessarily illegal.
The advertising code seems fairly explicit about what IS illegal:
The ASA will administer the codes and will respond to public concerns about gambling advertisements. In particular they will seek to ensure adverts don’t:
· portray, condone or encourage gambling behaviour that is socially irresponsible or could lead to financial, social or emotional harm;
· exploit the susceptibilities, aspirations, credulity, inexperience or lack of knowledge of children, young people or other vulnerable people;
· suggest that gambling can be a solution to financial concerns;
· link gambling to seduction, sexual success or enhanced attractiveness; or
· be likely to be of particular appeal to children or young persons, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture.
But how do you define the first point? Encouraging gambling that could lead to financial harm – isn’t financial harm a very personal thing? How are websites meant to differentiate?
The definition is so broad that it’s all a grey area. You could say that any gambling could lead to financial harm, therefore it’s all illegal. But we should remember that this act was brought in to tighten up gambling in the UK, not to make it illegal as per UIGEA/Ports act.
Operators have to pass very strict Gambling Commission tests to get their licence:
all remote operators will have to:
· introduce measures to control continuous and repetitive play;
· ensure customers are made aware of how much time and money they have spent on their website;
· train staff to identify and deal with customers who may be affected by problem gambling;
· enable customers who feel they have a gambling problem to exclude themselves from the website;
· adhere to technical standards covering the functionality of games and the security and administration of the systems that provide the gambling facilities; and
· use the best publicly available information for age verification purposes, including random credit card checks to verify age. The Gambling Commission will follow this up with mystery shopping exercises using under-18s to ensure that operators are not allowing children to gamble online.
My take on this is that if you’re advertising fully whitelist-approved casinos who adhere to this code of practice and who don’t therefore encourage irresponsible gambling, you’re not inciting illegal gambling.
I may be way off the mark with this, but if I am I think we’re all in trouble!
Can anyone with a legal background shed any light?