Internet Gambling Research Briefing

Prepared by:
Debbie Bilman
Jeremy Clifford
Rich Lew
Felicia Lo
Ellen Sandler
Date: March 19, 1998

Abstract

During the last several decades, the United States (U.S.) gambling industry has boomed into a huge, money-making industry. With the recent explosion of the Web, Internet applications of all types have proliferated with such speed that regulators and the public at large have hardly had time to react. One of the most controversial and arguably most impacting developments has been the Internet gambling market. With over 160 casino websites already on-line, an increasing number of budding entrepreneurs are investing a few hundreds of thousands of dollars in anticipation of easy and unlimited returns. While a few are taking their chances in the United States, most are seeking the relatively unregulated environs of off-shore locations, such as Antigua and Belize, to avoid the legislative dangers looming in the U.S. Key issues surrounding Internet gambling have now only begun to surface and be addressed. One of these issues is the basic question of whether the government should regulate on-line gambling at all. More specifically, analogous to the different stances various states have taken towards the legalization of gambling, should and how can interstate gambling be controlled? And even more far reaching, should electronic commerce and the traffic over the Internet be regulated, and, if so, how? While regulators and public interest groups, such as the World Wide Web Consortium, are grappling with some of these issues today, there appears to be no easy answer. Until these larger, more philosophical questions are openly debated and addressed, Internet gambling will only be one more source of potential confusion and controversy for Internet users and regulators around the globe.

Table of Contents

15.963 Class Web Site Internet Gambling Information Directories of On-Line Casinos
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