ILLEGAL GAMBLING
There are a raft of measures which can be taken to reduce the number of customers registering with black market providers: 1. Regulators have to act meaningfully, reasonably and empirically Recently we have seen many regulators publicly addressing the issue of the black market, usually referring to what they deem to be the size of the threat and the proposed solutions. Examples are the Gambling Commission of Great Britain, the Swedish Gaming Authority and the Gemeinsamen Glücksspielbehörde der Länder in Germany. In many cases, there has been an attempt to assess the size of the black market, which in itself is problematic for a number of reasons: • The limitations of conducting reliable research around a ‘hidden’ industry make the results inherently inaccurate; • Different methodologies - often using proxy data or web traffic –are employed to quantify the black market; • The lack of agreement around accurate ways to derive correct empirical data; • The propensity of interest groups, in pushing their own agendas, to skew the data; • A misunderstanding of the distinction between grey, black, regulated and unregulated markets;
• A lack of understanding and appreciation of the technical and other methods that black market operators employ; • The reality that politicians and regulators, for different reasons, do not want to lay bare the real size of the black market. Pressure from the regulated industry has seen an increased focus among certain regulators, for example in Germany, Sweden and Great Britain, on reducing the black market. The reality is, however, that no regulator has conducted a dedicated consultation process involving the online industry itself. In the circumstances, the is remarkable, and until it is addressed there will always be regulatory suspicion in the industry. This oversight requires further investigation and discussion. Over and above the points already raised, gambling regulators in many jurisdictions have an outdated perspective of what their role and status is, often harbouring an ‘us and them’ mentality, with a ‘do as we say’ peremptory, police-type tone. These regulators don’t want to be seen to be talking to the industry for fear of backlash from protest groups or of not being seen to be objective. In the absence of a working relationship with the industry it can be viewed as a greedy enemy, prepared only to discuss matters that are for its benefit.
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IMGL MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2024
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