Some Countries Still Banning Online Gambling
In today’s market more and more countries are opening up their markets to the world of online gambling. They are fully aware that the gaming community is growing exponentially and that means that millions of dollars are to be had in the market. Most governments are looking to capitalize on that by raising tax revenue on the money and creating licensng fees for gaming companies that want to work within their jurisdiction. This sounds like a great plan and has worked for various cities, states and counties on small levels. Most are now looking to expand that gaming plan to increase revenue…some legislations are not though. Israel for example is one country that is not looking to any gaming possibilities any time soon and bucking up against gaming companies that want to challenge that.
The gambling world has been banned from the country of Israel for some time now. There is a problem though. The online world is moving at such a great rate of growth that Israel leaders are worried that if laws aren’t shored up, these companies may gain access to residents. The government as a result is taking some drastic steps to block internet gambling from the market. The government is blocking ISPs that are looking to come into the country with their gambling technologies and to block residents from visiting them. Though this is a seemingly effective way of monitoring online gambling, the action comes along with some problems. Experts are saying that the bans are dangerously close to the act of “internet censorship.” In essence, allowing governments to use the gambling argument as a means of censoring people, is a slippery slope. The question is, if the government can ban gambling websites, what else can they ban? What else can they police? What rights to citizens have to demand access due to freedoms and their own personal rights to make decisions on their own? These are all questions that the Israeli government and other legislative bodies have to consider before using such strong tools like banning internet ISPs to stop various activities. Though there is room for debate in other areas though, the Israeli government has made it relatively clear that there is no room for debate…right now.
Tags: ban, censor, censorship, gambling, internet, Israel, online
