The long awaited legislation introduced to the South African Parliament by Fungai Sibanda, the acting Director General of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to regulate and legalize online gambling, has run in to opposition from some other MPs. The bill proposed, the National Gambling Amendment was proposed as a way to prevent crime and to protect players, compulsive gamblers and underage gamblers.
However, good as the idea may sound, some MPs, led by ANC member Ben Turok protested the bill saying that the only reason that South Africa should regulate online gambling, or interactive gambling, as the bill calls it, should be to abolish or restrict it. They tend to see it as a moral issue, gambling being a "social evil." In fact, the opposing MPs have said that legalizing online gambling will be like making money out or prostitution.
The piece of legislation tends not to be critical enough of gambling. Many MPs feel that when you have a social problem such as gambling, it is advisable to legislate to curb or ban it, not encourage it. Other MPs said that they would support the bill only if it is to be a step towards doing away with this unacceptable activity. Other MPs complained that all the gambling sites are owned by whites, and that blacks are impoverished by it.
In addition to protecting minors and vulnerable people from harm and exploitation, the Act provides for approval of interactive games, equipment and software, registration of players, dispute resolution and fair treatment of players. The bill also deals with advertising, licensing, compliance and enforcement, problem gambling, and money laundering. The regulatory requirements will also apply to software vendors located outside SA, who would also have to be licensed in South Africa, Muthwa said.
The National Gambling Amendment comes two years after results of a comprehensive international study conducted by a specially appointed commission of online gambling technology and jurisdictions was submitted to the South African government.
Online Titan Poker is supporting the 2009 Asian Poker Tour Philippines Main Event that is currently ...
The world of online poker has drawn those who are compelled by the online poker competition and the ...
Betfair announced in a Wednesday press release that it has opened its online client to the Russian p...
A new Reality television series is being introduced by the Emmy award winning American talk show hos...
Online poker rooms are employing new tactics to differentiate their sites from others and to individ...
The growing competition of online gambling adds growing pressure to online casinos to search, test a...
Titan Poker is pleased to announce, that with that with the help of the World's leading Poker Forum,...
TexasHoldem.com is the best destination for avid poker players. The online poker site has a complete...
Titan Poker new team is joined by the top twelve skilled players from, Europe and Canada who will re...
GamblingPlanet.org denies that the online gambling industry was experiencing hard times, despite iPo...
Smashing the Guinness world record for the largest online poker tournament is the world's largest on...
In the future there will be only five major online poker sites due to industry, according to Jim Rya...
Today's online poker offers a competitive environment whereby sites have to constantly come up with ...
Phil Hellmuth and Cereus- the new software platforms for online Absolute Poker and UltimateBet.com...
Online Poker News - news
from the world of
Online Poker RSS Feed.
The OPN directory is currently in development and will be available soon. If you are interested in adding a link, just click on the “Add Link” button. Thanks for your patience.
Had enough practice? Are you ready for Real money action? LuckyAcePoker.com will help get you on th...
100% match bonus at Titan Poker absolutely FREE!!! Deposit up to $500 now at Titan poker and you wil...
Recommended Poker Books
You do not need prior permission to link to any of the pages on this site. Limited copyright is granted for you to use and/or republish any of the articles on this site for any legitimate media purpose as long as you reference OPN as the source, and include a link referring the reader to the OPN site.