gamble on the Internet at some time in each week, mainly on betting and lotteries. As the availability of the Internet grows rapidly, and particularly as its use becomes easier as it becomes accessible through other media such as TVs and mobile telephones, so the amount of Internet gambling is predicted to grow with it.

British gambling legislation - apart from that setting up the National Lottery - is all over a quarter of a century old and was enacted at a time when the power of the Internet could not have been imagined. Unsurprisingly therefore, that legislation impinges on Internet gambling in ways which were unintended and are erratic. In broad terms, the position, as the Board understands it, is as follows.
Betting Bookmakers have for many years been able to accept telephone bets from clients with credit accounts. There is therefore nothing to prevent them accepting such bets by e-mail. Likewise, football pools have always been able to accept entries by post and can therefore also use e-mail. The reason why bookmakers have been choosing offshore locations for their telephone and Internet betting operations is because taxes are lower and not because such operations would be illegal here.
As for casinos, bingo and gaming machines, such gaming can only take place on licensed and registered premises and, in particular, the persons taking part in the gaming must be on the premises at the time when the gaming takes place. Hence no licence could be obtained by an operator who wished to offer such Internet gaming here and to set up such a site would be illegal. The Board has stated that it would seek to take action against anyone who did so.
The position with lotteries is more complicated. Tickets for lotteries can be sold almost anywhere other than in the street. They can be sold for instance at people's homes including over the telephone. But they cannot be sold by means of a machine. The Board's view is that a lottery run entirely by computer via the Internet amounts to selling tickets by means of a machine and it has refused to authorise such lotteries. However, the Board has been approached by lottery managing companies with proposals to use the Internet to run lotteries in much the same way as someone might use the telephone. With these, the Internet is simply used as a means of >>