Introduction
The dynamic development of the Internet facilities offers a vast amount of available services and online gambling is among them. Its legality became a serious issue that appeared recently. The main economic questions which come up when speaking about online gambling are taxation and unemployment. Online gamblers can be citizens of different countries. Properly regulated online gambling will exclude cheaters from the process of gambling.
Body
More and more gamblers prefer to stay at home and play, instead of going to the casinos preserving a poker face. The extending number of players increases the sums of money circulating in the gambling. If the government finds a correct way of regulating the Internet gambling, then profitable taxation authorities can be established. Enormous incomes from the regulated online gambling, which can be obtained by a country are the strengths of the online gambling legality. Those players who are evading gambling taxes will be forced to pay them according to the laws.
As to its weaknesses, even though online gambling will be legal, there still will be underground online casinos trying to conceal the incomes, since it is harder to regulate an online casino than a regular one. The Internet providers, which host online gambling operations, are placed offshore. This gives an opportunity for the operators to change, move or delete online gambling sites immediately. It may lead to stealing money from the gamblers’ credit cards and shutting down the sites. In addition, experienced hackers can manipulate the software to falsify online games.
The opening opportunities for the players cannot be omitted. Legal online gambling will allow them to earn money without leaving their houses. On the assumption of a correctly regulated legislation, the financial circulations will be controlled by the government.
In spite of all the advantages, legal online gambling also has some threatening issues which can affect the economy of the country. If people start gambling instead of working, a problem of unemployment will appear. Young generations might decide that all they need to earn money is having the gambling skills. The economy cannot flourish due to the incomes from gambling only. Moreover, online gambling provokes the same dependence as a regular one. The players can lose all their savings while participating in it.
Since such kind of business as online gambling exists already and the amount of online gamblers increases annually, it is pointless to retain it illegal. People will gamble online whether it is legal or not. They will conceal their real incomes from the taxation authorities and the economy will decrease. The new gambling sites will appear because there will be a demand for them. The incomes from this business will be thoroughly concealed from the government and fraud will prosper. Teenagers may gamble online without their parents’ consent by using their credit cards during the registration. Under-age players will participate in it instead of visiting schools. Online gambling makes it hard to detect transactions of the finances and to make a decision on which jurisdiction is in charge of the particular case. Once it originated and people liked it, once it is profitable and remunerative, it will not simply disappear from the Internet scopes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, everything listed above implies that online gambling should be legal. Though, serious measures suing the defaulters and avoiding the under-age participation must be assumed, in order to avoid the transgression. Thoroughly considered regulations must be adopted by the government. Then gambling law violators and cheaters will be punished.
Elaborate design of this sphere of money gaining can lead to obtaining immense incomes by the country. Annual incomes from online gambling can be near 10 billion dollars in the next millennium (Simpson, 2001). Government will be able to disclose the tax defaulters and to assume the measures in controlling them. Gamblers will not be able to conceal their incomes and fool the government in such a way. All mentioned issues prove that the government can use legal online gambling for bringing the profits into the country and fighting with frauds. That is why online gambling should be legal.
