Why Internet Gambling Prohibition Will Ultimately Fail

Abstract

295 TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION HAS ALWAYS PLAYED A ROLE in the development of gambling behavior, primarily through providing new market opportunities.1 Early prevalence studies of Internet gambling in the United Kingdom (U.K.) have shown that Internet gambling is not a cause for concern at present.2 However, when considering the prevalence rates of more technologically sophisticated nations such as Canada,3 it is rational to propose that the social costs of Internet gambling will emerge as countries like the U.K. gradually loses its “technophobia” and costs of Internet usage decrease.4 The introduction of the Internet and other telecommunication developments is an issue for concern regarding problematic gambling behavior. As technology develops there will be increased scope to manipulate the potentially addictive structural characteristics of gambling activities to increase the appeal and arousal of the games. To date, knowledge and understanding of how the medium of the Internet affects gambling behavior is sparse. Globally speaking, proliferation of Internet access is still an emerging trend and it will take some time before the effects on gambling behavior surface. However, there is strong foundation to speculate on the potential hazards of Internet gambling. For instance, Griffiths5 has identified the use of virtual cash, unlimited accessibility, and the solitary nature of gambling on the Internet as potential risk factors for problem gambling development. The U.S. legal system appears to acknowledge the potential dangers of Internet gambling while simultaneously admitting the lack of understanding about the dynamics of such dangers. It has been reported that U.S. citizens represent between 50% and 70% of Internet gambling customers worldwide.6 Clearly, enforcement of blanket Internet gambling prohibition is difficult. By reviewing the experience of the United States, it is possible to hypothesize about the possibility of prohibiting Internet gambling activity elsewhere in the world. U.S. state gambling laws are fundamentally circumvented given that Internet gambling of-