NCLGS Releases Revised Online Gambling Regulation Proposals

Main topics discussed were player protection, taxation and government licensing

The National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) in America that wants to provide aid to US states about regulating online gambling released a draft of the revised online gambling regulation proposals last week in its ‘Policy Framework for the Regulation of Internet Gaming’.

According to the press release, the reason for the creation of this iGaming regulatory framework is to ensure that there is an effective system in place for US states that allow intrastate online gambling.

The proposals were revised based on the comments of interested third parties from the online gambling industry and some of the discussed topics were the protection of players, taxation, the processing of payments, government licensing and so on. They are scheduled to be vetted next year on January 10 at the winner meeting of the NCLGS in Las Vegas.

Topics Discussed

One of the first topics discussed was about player privacy and safety measures. The Alderney Gambling Control Commission added a clause to be considered in the Extending Player Protections suggesting the need of more understandable player protection that extends more than the current legislation and covers all online and mobile games including non-gambling and non-traditional games.

Martin Shapiro of PokerXanadu added that in addition to the obvious banking and account protection, there should be protection of personal ID information. He also said that regulation should include fraud and theft by online gambling site employees as well as illegal use of software help by players.

On the subject of taxation, Shapiro also said US states should consider the negative effect on player participation of over taxation when tax methods and rates are determined. In order to get an equal playing field, the need to balance tax rates of both land based and online operations was also proposed.

Regarding the topic of government licensing, especially the idea of bad actors which was also discussed at the California Conference on Online Gaming in May, Shapiro said that the history of the online gambling sites should be considered when licenses are awarded.

The UC Group said that interstate partnerships shouldn’t be barred by licensing requirements. Interesting to note is their statement that some states may not have the expertise to regulate the iGaming industry and they may want to use the expertise of other states such as New Jersey and Nevada.

The Story Continues

Even though the document still seems to be non binding, it gives a good insight to people that want to see state governments remain the most important players in the online gambling industry and how this will look in the future.

However, legislation on federal level doesn’t seem to be haven in the near future mainly because of the new Republican congress and Sheldon Adelson’s efforts to stop online gambling. Nevertheless, as the Internet gambling industry can fade a federal ban, state governments will move on to carve out the iGaming regulatory environment. The development of the NCLGS document should be watched closely by the time the next meeting takes place.