Following the recent passage of the Gambling Licensing & Advertising Bill in the U.K.’s House of Commons, the British government is reportedly considering a host of options with regard to policing online and mobile gambling activities.
The bill in question mandates U.K.-facing online gambling operators to obtain and carry a pertinent license issued by the U.K. Gambling Commission.
The bill, however, is not yet law. It still has to get through the House of Lords. But if all goes according to plan, the Bill could be the law of the land by May of next year.
A key feature of the Bill is its point-of-consumption tax (POCT), which will apply to all wagers placed by punters within the UK’s borders, regardless of the operator’s location.
“If the nightmare scenarios prove accurate and the new tax sends punters scurrying to internationally-licensed operators,” writes Steven Stradbrooke of CalvinAyre.com, “Helen Grant, the newly installed head of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport that oversees the Commission, says the government would consider digitally blocking those operators’ sites from accessing the UK market. Grant acknowledged that IP-blocking had produced “mixed results” when applied to other industries, but nonetheless stated that her department hadn’t ruled out implementing the tactic.”
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