Compiled by Vicky Nolan
A Moral Defense of Gambling?
Public finance economists seldom make moral or ethical judgements, although their work often examines questions that the general population regards as moral or ethical issues. A study, Gambling and Governments in Canada, 1969-1998, published by the Canadian Tax Foundation concluded
that on a strict dollars and cents basis, the government and society as a whole benefit from the legal operation of lotteries, casinos and video lottery terminals. The two authors, Francois Vaillancourt and Alexandre Roy, affiliated with the University of Montreal and the Centre de recherche et developpement en econommique, say that if government-run gambling (which can be traced for at least 21 centuries) were to end, then illegal gambling would fill the void. While the societal and government costs would continue, the government wouldn't reap any profits to offset those costs. They conclude that the taxes earned on gambling might be a necessary evil, but not necessarily that evil.
www.ctf.ca
Sports Betting Is Hot
Sports sites are among the most popular destinations on the Internet, and many of these sites' operators are finding online gambling a lucrative addition. Some industry players see it as the only way that sports websites will make money, but with a global online gambling market expected to hit £9 billion by end of 2000 (according to U.K. researchers at MMD), they won't be on their own. Indeed, many bricks-and-mortars bookmakers are taking to the Internet in search of untapped markets. According to "Sport on the Internet" published by Screen Digest, U.K. offline punters are likely to plunk $8 on a bet compared to cyber-punters who are more likely to drop $80 on a bet. Horseracing accounts for 80 percent of all online betting, with 10 percent of the £100 million gambled on the Grand National at Aintree via the Internet. The report finds that the debate isn't really whether online betting will be successful. Instead, it finds online betting sites duking it out with traditional bookmakers' new websites for punters pounds and pennies.
www.screendigest.com
Multilingual Sites Are No Longer Optional
Forrester Research says that American websites must become multilingual. "Since 50 percent of all online sales will be sold outside the U.S. by 2004, building a multilingual site has become critical--particularly to those companies serious about winning in the Internet economy," said one Forrester researcher. "When offered in multiple languages, customer service features like product data sheets and technical FAQs provide differentiation, build brand loyalty, and cut support costs." By 2003, Forrester believes that a set of globalization software and services will emerge as Web-based localization ascends and legacy translation agencies diminish. Plus, today's Internet business applications that offer random multilingual capabilities will evolve into more language-agnostic products by the end of 2001.
www.forrester.com
Gray-Haired and Courting Lady Luck
Senior citizens (those aged 55 and over) have adopted the Internet in droves. Cyber-seniors use the Internet for everything from communication to shopping to participation in online sweepstakes, according to Greenfield Online researchers. A survey of nearly 3,000 seniors showed that a whopping 90 percent of
senior surfers try their luck with Net sweepstakes and contests. The top five sites where seniors check out contests and sweepstakes are Freelotto.com (67 percent), Luckysurf.com (43 percent), Mypoints.com (42
percent), Iwon.com (38 percent) and Iwin.com (37 percent).
www.greenfieldonline.com
Credit Card Fraud Frightens Merchants
The specter of credit card fraud has many online retailers searching far and wide for better and more secure payments, according to an article on CMP Media Inc. Quoting a Gartner Group analyst, the article says, "Fraud is 11 times higher on the Internet than offline. ... Ninety percent of sales online are made with credit cards." With the limited adoption of Secure Electronic Transaction protocol, most e-tailers are pursuing fraud detection services such as that from CyberSource, Digital Courier Technologies Inc. (DCTI), Equifax and First Data. Additionally, e-businesses are looking into services that provide real-time fraud protection, something that had previously been limited to financial firms. The only company to provide real-time authorization is DCTI, according to the article.