Representatives from 32 countries met at Britain's Royal Ascot racecourse today to discuss the global Internet gambling industry, just weeks after the United States enacted legislation banning online gambling.
United Kingdom Cultural Secretary Tessa Jowell, who hosted the gathering, said one of the sessions resulted in a broad agreement to improve regulation of the industry amid fears it could exploit children and foster criminal activity.
Jowell said that a regulated Net gaming industry would mean better protection than the U.S. decision to prohibit the practice.
"[The U.S. stance] is the new prohibition," she said. "In relation to gambling, you have three choices. You allow the market to rip, which some jurisdictions do; you prohibit, which some jurisdictions do; or you regulate."
"We are optimistic that by the end of the day we will have achieved a number of things," Jowell told journalists during a break in the gathering, the first government-sponsored summit to discuss the impact of Internet gaming.
U.S. officials declined an invitation to the talks, though representatives from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and offshore online jurisdictions such as Malta, Costa Rica and Antigua and Barbuda were reportedly in attendance.
A draft communiqué from the meeting noted concerns surrounding the industry, including its vulnerability to criminal misuse and its threat to unsupervised children.
The communiqué proposed the use of age and customer verification tools to protect young people and the vulnerable. It also called for ongoing communication between national jurisdictions through the International Association of Gambling Regulators.
Communications between national jurisdictions took another step forward at the summit, as U.K. Sports Minister Richard Caborn all but announced Britain's support of Antigua in its complaint to the World Trade Organization regarding the U.S. decision to ban online gambling.
"It will be a landmark decision," Caborn said. "We sympathize in the sense we want the WTO to clear up this area."