US Citizens Flock to
Online Casinos Despite Ban
 December
26 - Despite the fact that online gambling is illegal in the
United States as a result of the Unlawful Internet Gaming
Enforcement Act (UIGEA) that was passed in October 2006 and
is likely to be enforced in the near future, more US citizens
than ever before are seeking out online casinos.
According to US-based digital market research firm market
comScore, unique US visitors to online gambling sites in the
last month - after the announcement that the Bush administration
is pushing to enforce UIGEA - have climbed by an astounding 11
percent, which equates to more than 16 million visitors.
Employing a scale known as the Media Metrix measurement service,
comScore revealed that 1.5 million more US citizens visited
online gambling websites in November. The figure of 16 million
is extremely high, considering that the total number of US
visitors to regular online retail websites during the same month
was 19 million.
Since the online gambling ban, the US government has been
widely criticized for removing its citizens' rights to choose to
gamble online. The move has often been compared to the
Prohibition in the 1930s, when alcohol was banned in the country
spawning an underground 'black market' and ultimately organized
crime.
The government's ban on online gambling has chased the
legitimate online gambling operators out of the country, with no
rules or regulations in place to protect online gamblers. This
means US players are more likely to visit shady or unscrupulous
online gambling websites, and risk being defrauded.
What the US government has failed to realize is that the
legalization and regulation of the online gambling industry
would be easier to enforce and oversee than a ban.
Plus, it would reap the benefits of taxing the lucrative online
gaming industry, never mind restoring freedom of choice to its
citizens.
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