Underage Gambling A Problem?
by Karl Yu - WinnerOnline
15 Jan 09

According to the UK's Gambling Act of 2005, licensed online gambling companies must ensure that there are strict measures in place to prevent minors from playing their games but according to the investigation, 33 percent of licensed online gambling companies' safeguards aren't stringent enough.

"Some 164 firms are permitted to operate about 250 websites," reported the dailymail.co.uk.

According to the UK's Telegraph, the Gambling Commission used debit cards—which were registered to people who were underage—to access online gambling sites, to see how foolproof they were and they "found loopholes in filtering measures designed to prevent the young becoming addicted."

Online gambling sites should have software that confirms a user's name and particulars, including place of residence, payment details and birthdate, and should block out those who are playing illegally.

The report says that while companies did have measures in place, they didn't work efficiently and that has politicians worried.

"It is obvious that the safeguards put in place by the Government, and the statements made about responsible gambling in relation to the internet, are totally bogus," warned Dr. Emanuel Moran, who serves in an advisory role, to the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

"We are in danger of allowing a generation of children to become addicted to gambling."

However, Gerry Sutcliffe, the Culture Minister, says maybe people are making too much of the situation.

"The majority of the tests showed that policies and procedures to prevent children from gambling on remote sites are effectively in place," Sutcliffe said.

The Daily Mail suggests that online gambling sites may have only failed in one safeguard and it is possible that the minors could have been caught by other measures on the sites.

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