offending sites are unlikely to be as easily identifiable, because many sites with references to gambling are informational. Any scheme to block Internet gambling sites is likely therefore to be unwieldy, costly and only partially effective.

The Association for Payment Clearing Services has told the Board that it is not easy to identify the exact nature of accounts to which credit card payments are to be made and therefore those which are gambling sites. Further, banks here would find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to refuse to honour payments to overseas accounts which had been properly established within those countries and related to trading operations which were legitimate there. Often, gambling sites require money to be deposited before play and the purposes of the deposit may not be obvious to the banks. In some cases, the deposits may be set up in such a way that they can be used for more than one purpose.

Whatever the exact position in respect of the possibilities of preventing access to offshore Internet gambling sites – and this will doubtless change over time as technology develops - the Board on the basis of its current knowledge does not believe that attempts at prohibition are either sensible or likely to be successful. Past experience suggests that where there is a substantial market for a good or a service which cannot be met legitimately, illegal supply will occur instead. This will be so particularly where the general population feels there to be little wrong with the activity. In any case, it would make little sense for legislation to prevent offshore gambling without also addressing the inherent inconsistencies in the laws relating to domestic Internet sites, in particular the contrast between betting which is permitted and gaming which is not.

In summary, the Board does not support this option in itself. As explained later, a variant could be considered as an adjunct to option (iii) although the Board does not find that attractive either.

This is the Board's preferred option. It was also supported by nearly all respondents to the Board's consultation paper. It seems clear that there is likely to be a substantial, and possibly massive, market for Internet gambling, both domestically and >>