Regulated Online Casinos Continue to be Safest Bet, Industry Says

 Based in London, eCOGRA, www.ecogra.org, this week reiterated the “critical importance” of consistent, monitored standards for professional online casino and poker room operations, which ensure that players receive “a fair gaming experience” and good customer service, as well as a solid dispute mediation service, said Andrew Beveridge, the chief executive officer of eCOGRA. 
Beveridge fears that recent “legislative developments” may have the potential to create a situation where players could be “vulnerable” to under-funded, unregulated and perhaps even unethical gambling sites filling the gap left by legitimate companies that may be blocking access to their sites by players with a U.S.-based Internet address.

Future Success

"Integrity-driven conduct for best-practice standards, and properly monitored online gambling establishments is critical to the future success of the industry", said Beveridge.
Beveridge said software providers and operators alike are considering joining eCOGRA, where 112 online gaming sites have already committed themselves to responsible codes of conduct.

"We have always expected our seal holders to act responsibly and urge them to continue do so in the current circumstances”, said Beveridge. “The need for safe, fair online gambling venues working to consistent and practical operational standards capable of crossing international borders cannot be overstressed. Our members and sealholders will continue to offer efficient and respectful service to all players permitted by the laws where they reside to gamble online."

According to Beveridge, the regulation of online gambling operators is far more effective and safer for the players than attempts to prohibit a form of Internet entertainment that is popular with “literally tens of millions of responsible gamblers” around the world. “Our concern is that prohibition rarely works and could allow unregulated operators to take advantage of decent people who have no recourse to a controlling authority," Beveridge said.

Safe, Responsible

With 21 online poker rooms and 91 online casino sites operated by some of the largest and most successful business groups in the industry bearing the eCOGRA "Play It Safe" seal, the group is known to promote safe and responsible online gaming.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who is seeking the vote of religious conservatives, in a bid for the White House in 2008, is said to have pushed through anti-gambling legislation in the U.S. Congress. However, some analysts are speculating that President Bush may not sign the bill, or may issue a signing statement indicating that the executive branch will not enforce the law, as passed, for it was hastily attached to a port security measure, which is not related to gaming regulation, and was essentially snuck through the Congress, unethically, at the end of the legislative session. Esteemed publications, including The Wall Street Journal, are predicting that the law, as passed, is unenforceable, and that online gambling will proceed apace, as if nothing had happened, once firms get over the bad PR from the Frist assault. Banks have said they do not have the resources to track every credit card transaction for potential gambling bills, and others note it would take several years for banking regulators to come up with regulations to govern the gaming industry, even if President Bush allowed the bill to become law. There also remain challenges in the courts as to the legitimacy of the bill, which may be an unconstitutional infringement on the right of association of individuals on the Internet, experts tell Onlinecasinocrawler.com.

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