July 18, 2006

Are they really sure it is enforceable?

Sir, in “Banning net gambling would serve no point”, July 18, you make some very good observations analyzing the pro and cons of this issue, though perhaps not sufficiently about the risks that are present from the needs to enforce any prohibition. Yes we read that they managed to capture some of those responsible for betting on the web, but that was the easy part, those were the ones who were looking to formalize their activity. Now comes the tough and expensive part of finding out how to handle all those operators that until now have been operating semi-informally and that after this will go into deep hiding, as will their clients, and who might very well even include some of the enforcement agents.

How long will legislators around the world be allowed to go on declaring things illegal without giving sufficient considerations to whether they have the enforcement capability and the full backing of the society’s social sanctioning mechanisms? If this is not ascertained then all what will be achieved is to take society further down on that slippery road of loosing credibility and hand over on a silver plate a new growth opportunity to those who prosper from participating in illegal and illicit activities.