Australia's federal government has made the latest move in the political chess match surrounding the yearlong moratorium on Internet gambling.
The draft of a highly anticipated report, commissioned by the federal government, comes to the conclusion that banning gambling online permanently can be done, but it won’t be cheap. The report has not yet been released to the public, but the Australian managed to secure a copy.
The report, drafted by the National Office for the Information Economy, could give advocates of continuing the ban on a permanent basis some muscle in the debate on what to do once the moratorium is up in May.
While the report does conclude that a ban on Internet gaming is possible, it also points out that the initiative would not be a cheap one to take.
Not only would implementing the permanent ban cost millions of dollars, but the cost of maintaining such a system would also come at a high price. In addition to the cost factor, the report admits that any means of banning online gaming will never be fool-proof, as the nature of the Internet will allow users to go elsewhere.
Those who were determined to go online and wager would be able to find a way through the ban, according to parts of the report which were published by the Australian.
"Determined users would probably be able to evade technological options for enforcing a ban on interactive gambling," it says.
The Australian Casino Association is claiming the government is purposely not releasing the document so there is no time for public input or debate on the matter.
The ACA’s Chris Downy says the group fears that not only is the government implementing some delay tactics, but it also isn’t willing to explore the option of regulating the industry.
With the moratorium up in May, and only a two-week window when Parliament is back in session, the ACA feels all the possible options are not being seriously examined.
"We believe that that is probably not going to happen and that's what we object to," Downy said in a news release. "We believe that the government should release the May report, not the draft report and not the draft report by press release or by leaking that report to selected media outlets, but should release the report for public discussion or at least give the industry the opportunity to respond to the issues raised in the report."
The report goes on to say that knowing up front a ban will not stop everyone should not be a reason to oppose such a move. "However," it reads, "a ban need not be 100 percent to achieve its goals. A ban can still be effective if it deters a majority of law-abiding consumers from undertaking an undesirable activity."
Officially, the government is not releasing the document yet, and officials told IGN that such a move may never happen.
"The government has not made a decision on the release of the report from the study into the feasibility and consequences of banning interactive gambling," NOIE spokesperson Asa Masterman said.
Although no details were given, the Australian reported that the document claims banning interactive gambling could generate benefits of more than $90 million to the economy.
The report does say that if a ban on Internet gaming is enacted it would force those gamblers to seek land-based options for their gambling needs. Many of these options do exist in Australia.
"It is also likely," the report reads, "that a ban would boost state and territory revenues by making would-be online gamblers seek out substitute offline gambling products and other entertainment options--all of which are taxed at a higher rate than interactive gambling."
The argument then shifts to a debate over whether it's feasible to think that if online gaming is banned in Australia those who took advantage of it while it was legal will return to land based operations.
The report seems to be leaning toward a yes answer but does conclude that those users can also turn to other areas of the Internet.
The draft report suggests that it'll take the government up to six months to design an effective ban on interactive gambling and another six months to implement it.
The government’s yearlong moratorium ends in May. The government can then decide if it will extend the ban for a period of time or permanently. A move to lift the ban can also be made as well as an attempt to introduce measures to regulate the industry.
The Northern Territory government last week published a set of measures that it wanted to see enacted on the national level to help regulate the industry. The government hasn't responded to the submission.