At a major Internet Gaming conference on Paradise Island on Monday, Chairman of the Gaming Board for The Bahamas called for regulations that would stabilise the fast growing industry of Online gambling.
Gaming Board Chairman Kenyatta Gibson made this appeal as he officially opened The Sixth Annual International Symposium on Internet and Wireless Gambling Law and Management, on behalf of Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe.
He said that The Bahamas was excited to learn more about Internet Gambling, which it does not regulate.
“We would want to be better equipped to make the relevant and necessary regulatory recommendations, whenever we pursue this attractive, and fortuitous and yet seemingly troubled route,” Mr. Gibson said.
He said however that countries in the Gaming Industry have a duty to recongise that several international conventions must be established and honoured to avoid “the very dark and tumultuous times” that seems to be looming ahead for the progress and stability of Internet Gaming.
And, he urged the region to always be aware of the “big stick” that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and its other European partners visited on the banking and financial services industries two years ago.
“It s against this backdrop that we must proceed,” Mr. Gibson said. “We must do all within our power and sphere of influence to ensure that the freedom of the Internet is not being held hostage by 20th Century protectionism and prohibition.
This year’s two-day conference brings together the CEOs, COOs, CFOs, Chief Technology Officers, Marketing and other executives from Internet gaming, land-based gaming, entertainment, and technology companies as well as gaming attorneys and leaders from jurisdictions around the world to discuss these trends and chart the future of the industry.
Each year this conference draws hundreds of the top gaming leaders from over 40 countries around the world.
This year, there will also be two pre-conference workshops. The first will focus on Responsible Gaming, a critical issue for the online gaming field. As the industry seeks to work with governments to legalise and regulate online gaming, it will have to convince legislators and regulators that it is taking steps to address the problems of compulsive and underage gambling. The second workshop will cover all the aspects necessary to start an Internet or wireless gaming site.
The prestigious and coveted Annual International Internet Gaming Innovator Awards will be presented during the conference.
Mr. Gibson told the symposium that with tourism being The Bahamas’ “bread and butter”, the Gambling Industry has always served as an accouterment to its Tourism Industry. Hence, the country’s focus is to reach a national consensus, which may allow gaming to thrive as an industry on its own.
The meeting is being held in The Bahamas at a time when a lively, controversial debate is raging about the establishment of a national lottery, which is strongly condemned by Bahamas Christian Council President Bishop Sam Greene.
The Government is proposing new amendments to the Gaming Act, and there is a proposed challenge in the Supreme Court of The Bahamas to lift the prohibition of Bahamians playing in local casinos.
“But at the same time,” Mr. Gibson said, “let there be no doubt that The Bahamas is poised and ready to take advantage of every opportunity and trend in the gaming industry.”
The Bahamas congratulates its sister CARICOM member-state Antigua and Barbuda on the pace set in establishing its Internet Online Gaming Services, he said.
The United Kingdom, in “The Budd Report” is about to implement its regulations as it elates to interactive gaming, and the United States is seeking to pass a Bill making Online Gambling a federal crime.
Moreover, substantial pressure is being put on the major credit card companies not to transact business with customers gambling on the Internet. These credit card companies honour payments and purchases for State Lotteries and other state pari-mutuels and games of chance.
“Here in The Bahamas we are more than aware that the underlying current of most of the reactionary legislation that we have examined from foreign jurisdictions can trace their origin to the concerns of many economic powers as to what they perceive as the erosion of their tax base and the mutual legitimate concerns over money laundering,” Mr. Gibson said.
“It is our duty as responsible leaders in this industry to face these challenges against the myriad of international concerns, and bring about a consensus, which would allow an international treaty or such on the conduct of gaming entertainment on the Internet.”
This process, Mr. Gibson said, can be arrived during conferences such as this, where the importance of a properly regulated Internet Gaming protocol can be proposed and sufficiently aired out for all interested participants.
By Lindsay Thompson, The Nassau Guardian
