The NCLGS Adopts an Online Gambling Framework
Since it was first legalized, there’s been three types of people when it comes to online gambling. There’s those that oppose it and support it, of course, but there’s also a third group: the group that supports it but believes it still needs some sort of framework to be taken seriously. Earlier this month, the online gambling industry got just that.
According to sources, the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) officially adopted and published the Policy Framework for the Regulation of Internet Gambling, which has been over a year in the making.
The framework seeks to fix a lot of what opponents of online gambling complain about. According to the framework, it addresses ten core topics: player protection, protection against addiction, taxation, licensing, enforcement, payment processing, player information verification (such as age, location, etc.), regulatory authority, multi-jurisdictional agreements, and game choice and legality.
Each section is broken down into several subsections. For example, taxation covers rates, methods, and federal law, enforcement covers anti-fraud, cheating, and illegal gambling detection methods, and player protections covers data protection, dispute resolution mechanisms, testing standards, procedures for fair game play, and more. This should ease the irrational fears of even the most paranoid player, so if they’re tempted by a site’s no deposit bonus and live in a state that has legalized and regulated gambling, they should trust that their information is secure.
While this isn’t the ultimate solution to everyone’s problems with online gambling, it addresses quite a few. The NCLGS is a bi-partisan organization, so there’s no hidden political agenda. The fact that there’s now an established framework shows that those in the position of power are prepared to fight this fight. This shows lawmakers on both a state and national level that this isn’t just a random group of people lobbying for change – this is an actual, credible, and serious movement. Supporters of the legalization of online gambling will undoubtedly use the framework as a focus point of all of their debates going forward.
The lack of any specific and serious framework has been one of the points that Sheldon Adelson’s anti-online gambling group has focused on. The timing of the framework is especially important since he’s poised to reintroduce the Restoration of America’s Wire Act bill. Not only that, but with New Jersey posting record profits and Mississippi lobbying for legalized and regulated online gambling, it seems as though Sheldon Adelson and his billions of dollars may very well be outnumbers in this fight.
The adoption of the framework isn’t a move that will completely change the tide of the battle, but like we mentioned earlier, the framework addresses a lot of core issues that opponents of online gaming have been attacking. It’ll be interesting to see how this changes the quest to legalize online gambling nationwide.