Hong Kong's lawmakers voted Wednesday to ban offshore gambling, including Internet gambling.
The law goes into effect next week, in time to be enforced during the World Cup, which commences May 31.
The newly passed Gambling (Amendment) Bill makes it illegal for bookmakers to offer offshore bets to Hong Kong residents. It also makes it a crime for Hong Kong residents to place an offshore bet--a proposition that has caused controversy among policymakers.
One criticism, reports the South China Morning Post, is that the government will monitor citizens' Internet habits to determine whether they are gambling on the Internet. Andrew Cheng Kar-foo, a Democrat who is chairman of the Legislative Council committee that considered the bill, said the Legco was assured by the Home Affairs Bureau that only people who are suspected of Internet gambling would be investigated.
Other members of Hong Kong's Legislative Council (Legco) still opposed the bill on the grounds that it would allow the government even wider latitude than it already has to monitor citizens' telecommunications activities.
"Widening the scope of gambling offenses, especially to the Internet, will give an excuse or more wide legal powers for the Chief Executive or law enforcement agencies to conduct more (telecommunications) intercepts," James To Kun-sun, a Democratic legislator, told the Post.
In addition, the law will invoke consequences for anyone who promotes, facilitates or advertises offshore betting to Hong Kong citizens. Rob Deans, a lawyer with the Hong Kong firm Bird and Bird, said that portion of the law targets marketing vendors and payment processors.
Stephen Fisher, Home Affairs secretary, told the Post on Tuesday that international offshore betting operators have assured his office that they will stop accepting bets from the SAR once the law goes into effect.
"We have spoken to them," Fisher said. "Indeed, some of them are listed companies overseas. They will not challenge the law of another jurisdiction. I believe they will pull out once the new law is in place."
The head of Victor Chandler Worldwide's Asia office, Murray Burton, said the VCW headquarters office in Gibraltar is preparing to stop taking bets from Hong Kong.
Another criticism of the bill is that it will exacerbate Hong Kong's underground gambling industry. While Internet gambling had been a gray area in the SAR's law until the passage of today's law, the Hong Kong Jockey Club is presently and will remain the only legal betting operator in
Hong Kong. The club operates horse race wagering as well as the Mark 6 lottery.
The maximum penalty for offshore bookmaking or the facilitation of offshore bookmaking is a fine of HK $5 million and seven years in prison, Deans told IGN.