英国报纸发表如何解决赌博问题引起争论(2)

　　译文：

　　British newspapers published how to solve the problem gambling controversial

　　The UK newspaper The Independent published an editorial today claiming that the incidence of problem gambling is massively increasing in the UK which is supposedly cased by the legal status of online gambling. Industry experts however aren't so sure.

　　Today The Independent published an article linking the supposedly rapid increase in the incidence of problem gambling to online gambling activities. The newspaper claims that at this moment almost 500,000 UK citizens suffer from gambling problems.

　　The article suggests that the increase of problem gambling is caused by the legalization of online gambling in 2005. The article however ignores the fact that the legalization of online gambling itself did not make online gambling more popular since due to the nature of the internet people were able to play online even before 2005.

　　It also claims that the UK online gambling industry will generate as much as GBP 2 billion during 2013. Likewise, the publication predicts that the European online gambling market will increase with as much as 34% during the next four years.

　　While it seems that The Independent blames the incidence of problem gambling on online casino games, it ignores to state that the majority of UK citizens who engage in online gambling activities do that to purchase lottery tickets sold by the National Lottery.

　　Regulation of online gambling reduces problem gambling

　　The article posted by The Independent seems to be critical towards the current status of online gambling and blames the supposed spread of problem gambling to the 2005 liberalization of the UK online gambling market.

　　Industry analysts however think that the legalization and regulation of online gambling is one of the most effective solutions in preventing the incidence of problem gambling. This is because banning online gambling is not practically possible.

　　Due to the nature of the internet, people interested in online gambling would always be able to register at online casinos even if online gambling is not regulated in their country. Those online casinos would not be obliged to respect any laws of the respective country since they would operate from offshore jurisdictions.

　　However, if online gambling is legal, the government is able to implement various regulations that will protect problem gamblers. For example, online casinos operating in regulated markets could be forced to blacklist certain players who were diagnosed to be problem gamblers.

　　So, if online gambling would not be regulated in the UK, then the incidence of problem gambling would for sure be even higher than it is today. Besides, the regulation of online gambling does not only protect players but it also generates substantial revenue for the state.