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March 9, 2007 |
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| Macau weaves red carpet for Web operators | |||
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While Macau is preparing regulations to
open the Chinese casino enclave to Internet operators, the
government in Beijing announced it is stepping up its crackdown on
remote gambling.
Mainland China has launched a three-month drive to “purify the cyber environment,” according to a joint statement of the ministries of Public Security, Culture and Information Industry, focusing on Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Zhejiang and calling on local governments to more strictly monitor online activities in their jurisdictions. “The prevalence of online gaming has ruined the online environment and harmed young people's growth, which runs against the policy of building a harmonious society,” the ministries said. China implemented a law last year in an effort to combat Internet pornography, spam, viruses and gambling. Offenders face stiff prison sentences. Among other provisions, the law also bans minors from Internet cafes. According to official sources, Chinese authorities last year investigated more than 340,000 gambling cases involving more than 1 million people. More than 3.56 billion yuan (US$425 million) was seized. Gambling has been illegal in China since the Communists seized power in 1949. This has been a boon to the Macau peninsula, the former Portuguese colony that was returned to Beijing in 1999 and is home to a flourishing land-based casino industry. Web gambling currently is illegal in Macau — although the Macau Jockey Club and some greyhound racing operators are allowed to take Internet and telephone bets — but the local government’s Gaming Commission announced at the Pacific Congress on I-gaming earlier this year that it was developing a regulatory framework that will permit operators everywhere in the world to apply for licensing. “These are not features that have yet been passed, but we intend to regulate everyone, anyone who accepts bets, including betting exchanges, will be regulated, and the regime will be open to all,” said Commissioner for Gaming Jorge Oliveira. “We have everything set up, we are building the framework and we take the view that that we should take one step forward,” Carlos Lobo, legal advisor to the Commission, told the conference. The regulations, however, might not take effect until 2008 or later, according to reports, and given Beijing’s hostility it is not certain whether licensees will be taking bets from the mainland. Oliveira suggested a tax rate possibly as high as 25 percent. |
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