While the government of the United States has, so far, chosen to fight the online gambling industry all the way, the government of Great Britain has taken a different stance, and has chosen to embrace the industry instead. They have done so by not only allowing Internet gambling companies to list on the London Stock Exchange, but by also passing a bill which will help regulate online gambling.

The Gambling Bill, passed just this year, is designed to relate not only to gambling offenses, but also to help regulate Internet gambling (also known as remote gambling). In addition to the regulation of online gambling, the Gambling Bill further addresses such issues as the intention to create a new Gambling Commission, gambling and advertising, the legality of gambling contracts, operating premises, private betting and gambling, and the protection of minors. Of course, regulations can only extend to those Internet gambling sites that are based in the United Kingdom and do not have jurisdiction over off-shore gambling sites. By regulating and licensing online gambling sites, however, many of the British-owned off-shore operations, such as William Hill and Ladbrokes, might return to the United Kingdom where they may be able to gain back some of their customer base. Many of those customers were lost due to the fact that they were reluctant to give their credit card numbers out to companies located overseas. With the new Gambling Bill in place and licensing and regulations now possible, many of these companies can return to the UK and operate from there, even if only one piece of their remote gambling equipment is located in the country.

The bill also has a number of important measures designed to protect children and vulnerable adults – that portion of the population that was previously open to abuse prior to the implementation of the bill. People involved with child protective services have applauded this aspect of the bill, pointing out that the gambling industry was not doing what it should to protect children and vulnerable adults from gambling risks. While it is too early to tell what will be the effects on the United Kingdom in economic, social and cultural terms, it is worth watching to see if those effects will be beneficial. If so, perhaps the United States may come to see that online gambling is here to stay and instead of fighting the industry, they should begin to deal with it too.