England's Daily Telegraph, quoting the director of commercial development for Ladbrokes, reports the British betting giant is just "a few months away from launching a site which is truly interactive and enables people to bet on-line."
The spokesman, John O'Reilly, told the paper that Ladbrokes "had been talking to regulators to ensure they are happy with the service's ability to screen out under-age punters and record betting volume for levy and duty purposes." O'Reilly said bettors "don't have much faith betting sites based in the Caribbean," but have more confidence in getting paid "when they bet with one of the big firms."
In a related development, the European Commission is turning its attention to Internet gambling within the framework of its current examination of electronic commerce. The commission's internal market minister, Mario Monti, told Reuters that the EC was studying existing rules and "is considering the issue of the regulation of such online services."