Britain may bring in legislation allowing London-listed Internet gambling companies to move their headquarters to Britain, taking advantage of the United States legislature's faulty attempts to ban the popular online activity.
Plans to turn Britain into a "world leader" in internet gambling have been drawn up by ministers, according to internal Whitehall documents.
In stark contrast to America, where online gambling has in effect been outlawed, ministers want to attract offshore companies to Britain.
New legislation will lift the current ban on online gaming businesses in Britain from next year. But documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that a government charm offensive is well under way. They show that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), has lobbied the Treasury on behalf of online betting and gaming firms to introduce a favourable tax regime.
Over the past two years, ministers and officials at the department have met representatives of the internet gambling industry on 26 occasions.
In July, Richard Caborn, the minister in charge of gambling, travelled at taxpayers' expense to Gibraltar, the headquarters of Party Gaming and 888.com. At the end of the month, Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, will host an international summit of politicians at Ascot racecourse to discuss regulatory standards.
Officials from the United Nations, the European Commission and the major credit card companies have been invited.
The government's desire to take the lead in the online gambling sector is spelt out in a briefing note written for Caborn before a meeting in July last year with Mark Davies, managing director of Betfair, the online betting exchange.
The note says: "It is government-wide policy, and that includes HMT (Her Majesty's Treasury), that Britain should become a world leader in the field of online gambling, in order to provide our citizens with the opportunity to gambling (sic) in a safe, well-regulated environment."
The meeting took place as the Treasury was deciding a new tax regime for online betting exchanges, which are already allowed to operate onshore. Although bookmakers, such as Ladbrokes and William Hill, were arguing that online companies should pay higher rates of tax, Davies told Caborn such a move would "kill" Betfair.
Six months later, the chancellor announced a 15% tax on gross profits for online operators - the same regime that applies to traditional bookmakers. The move apparently "delighted" Betfair, according to another DCMS document.
Documents released by the Treasury under the Freedom of Information Act showed officials are considering ways to attract betting firms.
Briefing notes for one speech said: "The industry needs clarity on taxation issues, as this is a crucial factor shaping investment and location decisions, especially for remote operators."
Luring online poker and casino firms into Britain may prove difficult. The industry has told Caborn that anything more than a 2% tax on gross profits would be unacceptable. Some companies have asked the government to consider a system of "secondary" licensing, which would give them the British regulatory "stamp of approval" while retaining the tax benefits of remaining offshore.
Sportingbet, whose shares fell 64% last Monday in the wake of the new American law, has received takeover approaches for its US business.
The company has commissioned legal opinions to determine the impact of the American legislation.
The firm has been contacted by several people wanting to buy its US operations, although a sale is not the only option being considered.
I think it is just wonderful that at least the Brits will be able to gamble online. It is just good common sense to try to make this sort of move after Frist got that online gambling bill in position to be signed. The Brits stand to make sizeable profits even with the 15% tax... good for them. Now, the Americans need to make their OTHER play..
I'm glad some countries are beginning to realize how much money could be made with internet gambling. It seems like an easy source of income for the British government that wouldn't be a burden to their heavily taxed citizens.
I think that Italy and Germany should do just as England is doing.
Other countries need to teach the U.S.A a lesson or two.
People here on the USA need to be a lot more careful in the future who they vote for, as many people who are in the government go crazy with power, take the Arizona senator Kill Joy or whatever his name is, Frisk, the weird Oklahoma senator and others, maybe mostly power crazy and or just crazy republicans, but I am sure also some or many democrats.
Next time Vote for all new people as the house and the senate all of them together VOTED AGAINST US.
Let all of us vote against them next time.
Every vote counts or at least should count, Are the dead still voting?
First of all, it should be possible for americans to open a bank account on some other country and send and receive money from there.
Second, if your ISP won't let you go to Betslips and or another such place then use a proxy server to go there from, an out of the USA proxy server, if it really comes to that and you are a gambling pro set-up your own relay station out of the country.
As I said, "FREEDOM"? What freedom? We are going the way of CHINA.
The great wall of China will be followed by the great wall of the USA.
We are turning RED and We don't even know it "YET".
Quote: Originally posted by Littleoldlady on Oct 8, 2006
I think it is just wonderful that at least the Brits will be able to gamble online. It is just good common sense to try to make this sort of move after Frist got that online gambling bill in position to be signed. The Brits stand to make sizeable profits even with the 15% tax... good for them. Now, the Americans need to make their OTHER play..
The "other play" for Americans, unfortunately, is our politicians just shoving their hands deeper into the pockets of the average working stiff. New "fees" which they think can't be equated to new "taxes" because they think we're all too stupid to put two and two together.
That's why our pols never worry if they need more money. They just take it from the Golden Goose.
The "other play" for Americans, unfortunately, is our politicians just shoving their hands deeper into the pockets of the average working stiff. New "fees" which they think can't be equated to new "taxes" because they think we're all too stupid to put two and two together.
That's why our pols never worry if they need more money. They just take it from the Golden Goose.
I agree with Badger -- The politicians take our tax money and throw it away on anything they want. Then have to hide the gambling bill in a Port Security Bill because they don't have enough guts to let the legislation stand on its own merits.
Remember everyone the working stiff is too stupid to know how to spend his money. Washington knows best. I am telling you if there were any decent third party candidates --- I say send a real message and vote everyone that currently holds a seat in congress out on their ear. Honestly, we need to start over.
Does anyone remember during the Clinton administration when the government ran out of money for a couple of weeks because the Congress could not agree on a budget? Everything ran like clockwork and we taxpayers saved a bundle.
The only problem with what I have said is no one wants to vote. If the taxpayer really knew how much power he has with his vote he would be dumbfounded.
Example: In my county there are 130,000 people eligible to vote. Their are about 90,000 that actually register. I guess the others fell they are too important to even register. It gets worse, in the recent primary about 20,000 to 30,000 people felt it necessary to vote. Some of the issues were tax related. So that means that 15 to 20% of us run our county. We voted for judges, commissioners, school board, voted on tax issues, fire dues, etc.
Folks, my vote is huge under these circumstances. National elections are not much better. Somewhere around 30 plus percent of the people in this country control everything. Wow!! They are now even letting people vote by mail. I am not talking absentee ballot here, I am talking regular voters. Even then no one takes advantage of the opportunity.
As much as I hate what they have done to gambling, God in Heaven, it is the least of our worries.
The problem with your theory is the USA controls ALL of the DNS servers, and if they choose to 'block' something, they can, all it takes is a court order, and now that Dubya has his cronies lined up on the Supreme Court, getting a court order from the highest court in the land won't be a problem. (Proxy servers still have to go through the DNS system).
I said the same thing in another thread: we spent 45 years tearing down a wall in Berlin, and here we are building one on the Mexican border.
The problem isn't immigrants - it's illegal immigrants coming here and living off of us, and companies emplying them. Cut off aid to illegals, and actually FINE companies that hire them, and the problem stops, it IS that simple.
Todd - you may need to think about an 'Off-topic' forum for stuff like where this is going...
yeah italy should do the same...the question is, would they....NOt only do Europe needs to the online gambling capital of the world but they need to have a system like the "Stock market" or the Forex " be very widely available over there and be very popular in their country so people can use them..Something where people with money can make their money multiply, besides starting a bussiness.....I feel that the internet needs to be widely available and without restriction in these countries, except for porn...but the internet needs to be booming in these countries....And if they are going to have online gambling the lotteries if that's what they chose needs to give out lots of millions in money and not just 2 or 3 million dollars....This is what specially England & Italy need to do...
Quote: Originally posted by guesser on Oct 9, 2006
The problem with your theory is the USA controls ALL of the DNS servers, and if they choose to 'block' something, they can, all it takes is a court order, and now that Dubya has his cronies lined up on the Supreme Court, getting a court order from the highest court in the land won't be a problem. (Proxy servers still have to go through the DNS system).
I said the same thing in another thread: we spent 45 years tearing down a wall in Berlin, and here we are building one on the Mexican border.
The problem isn't immigrants - it's illegal immigrants coming here and living off of us, and companies emplying them. Cut off aid to illegals, and actually FINE companies that hire them, and the problem stops, it IS that simple.
Todd - you may need to think about an 'Off-topic' forum for stuff like where this is going...
Ha! That was a fairly ironic post. You greatly expanded the scope of the thread by throwing in a political statement about the wall we're going to build on our southern border, and then recommend I create an off-topic forum for posting that kind of stuff!
The comments about taxes and such are directly on-topic, as taxes are likely the primary reason the dopey US lawmakers created the law in the first place. I can't see any connection at all with your wall comment.
(However, since you brought it up, I'll just point you to this Blog entry, which provides my commentary on why comparisons to the Berlin Wall are ludicrous, and why the fence bill is the best thing congress has passed in years.)
I forgot to mention that, Not only England needs to start with the online gambling, so should Argentina, Spain, Brazil, India, France....
Also when i mentioned the Forex i meant currency exchange trading...have it in every of those countries listed so people with money can make their money duplicate/multiply....
The difference between the stock market and the Forex is that the stock market is based on supply and demand while the forex's currency exchange/trading is based on volume....
China has their own DNS servers and listings as part of their firewall. The minute the US delisted anything from ICANN then that would be the end to any central registry.
Democrats passed the harshest online gambling bill in the US in WA state where it is now illegal to even talk online about online gambling. So don't hold any hopes up as far as either party not having a bunch of crooks in them.
I'm sure the US will try to pressure other countries into banning online gambling but the money is too great for other coutries not to try it.
Yeah dvdiva that's what makes me mad, that the U.S is going to try to pressure other countries into banning online gambling or that other countries will imitate what the U.S does...They always do because of the idea that the best always comes from the U.S and in here they know what they are doing, and is true, but i disagree about online gambling though...I mean the U.S is not always correct 100% all the time...And that's what i wish they see...You know why i like it, because it creates millionaires (This is why i feel there should have like a stock market or forex currency exchange were people that become rich and make their money multiply) and is a second source of income that can go into education..And yes there is the belief that online lottery only makes people waste their money, but what i just said out weighs the consequences...And this is a rare point of view that i have but, I don't think ONline gambling will do well here in America, because there are going to be so many crooks trying to cheat or beat the game and i am convinced that will not happened abroad (think about it, in America (and japan) there is more knowlege on how to hack a website, RnG experiments and science, How to hack a credit card, than there is in the country of Spain or Peru for example...Put simply: (To many freaks and gambling addicts here in America : ) (is just my opinion)...Experiment: No one in the country of Spain i bet knows what a RnG is, Here in America people know what a RnG is...In Peru (i read this on the news, spanish channel), very few people have access to the internet, and fewer know English, here in America, the internet is common...
"Laura Simpson from Great Lakes, Illinois, deserves to be rich..." "She is so rare..."
I said: (This is why i feel there should have like a stock market or forex currency exchange were people that become rich and make their money multiply)....And i meant to say: (this is why i feel there should have like a stock market or forex currency exchange where people that become rich CAN make their money multiply...)
Also, i don't know but i would think that online gambling includes online lottery, but I feel that not many people play free lottos anyways, so how are they going to play online lottery. Unless they raise the jackpots or make the games easier...
I think it is just wonderful that at least the Brits will be able to gamble online. It is just good common sense to try to make this sort of move after Frist got that online gambling bill in position to be signed. The Brits stand to make sizeable profits even with the 15% tax... good for them. Now, the Americans need to make their OTHER play..
I'm glad some countries are beginning to realize how much money could be made with internet gambling. It seems like an easy source of income for the British government that wouldn't be a burden to their heavily taxed citizens.
I think that Italy and Germany should do just as England is doing.
Other countries need to teach the U.S.A a lesson or two.
People here on the USA need to be a lot more careful in the future who they vote for, as many people who are in the government go crazy with power, take the Arizona senator Kill Joy or whatever his name is, Frisk, the weird Oklahoma senator and others, maybe mostly power crazy and or just crazy republicans, but I am sure also some or many democrats.
Next time Vote for all new people as the house and the senate all of them together VOTED AGAINST US.
Let all of us vote against them next time.
Every vote counts or at least should count, Are the dead still voting?
http://lasvegasadvisor.com/debacle.cfm?s=F&w=Internet%20Gambling%20Debacle&men=1&sub=0
First of all, it should be possible for americans to open a bank account on some other country and send and receive money from there.
Second, if your ISP won't let you go to Betslips and or another such place then use a proxy server to go there from, an out of the USA proxy server, if it really comes to that and you are a gambling pro set-up your own relay station out of the country.
As I said, "FREEDOM"? What freedom? We are going the way of CHINA.
The great wall of China will be followed by the great wall of the USA.
We are turning RED and We don't even know it "YET".
Where is "Triangle-Boy" when you need it?
The "other play" for Americans, unfortunately, is our politicians just shoving their hands deeper into the pockets of the average working stiff. New "fees" which they think can't be equated to new "taxes" because they think we're all too stupid to put two and two together.
That's why our pols never worry if they need more money. They just take it from the Golden Goose.
I agree with Badger -- The politicians take our tax money and throw it away on anything they want. Then have to hide the gambling bill in a Port Security Bill because they don't have enough guts to let the legislation stand on its own merits.
Remember everyone the working stiff is too stupid to know how to spend his money. Washington knows best. I am telling you if there were any decent third party candidates --- I say send a real message and vote everyone that currently holds a seat in congress out on their ear. Honestly, we need to start over.
Does anyone remember during the Clinton administration when the government ran out of money for a couple of weeks because the Congress could not agree on a budget? Everything ran like clockwork and we taxpayers saved a bundle.
The only problem with what I have said is no one wants to vote. If the taxpayer really knew how much power he has with his vote he would be dumbfounded.
Example: In my county there are 130,000 people eligible to vote. Their are about 90,000 that actually register. I guess the others fell they are too important to even register. It gets worse, in the recent primary about 20,000 to 30,000 people felt it necessary to vote. Some of the issues were tax related. So that means that 15 to 20% of us run our county. We voted for judges, commissioners, school board, voted on tax issues, fire dues, etc.
Folks, my vote is huge under these circumstances. National elections are not much better. Somewhere around 30 plus percent of the people in this country control everything. Wow!! They are now even letting people vote by mail. I am not talking absentee ballot here, I am talking regular voters. Even then no one takes advantage of the opportunity.
As much as I hate what they have done to gambling, God in Heaven, it is the least of our worries.
Floridian
The problem with your theory is the USA controls ALL of the DNS servers, and if they choose to 'block' something, they can, all it takes is a court order, and now that Dubya has his cronies lined up on the Supreme Court, getting a court order from the highest court in the land won't be a problem. (Proxy servers still have to go through the DNS system).
I said the same thing in another thread: we spent 45 years tearing down a wall in Berlin, and here we are building one on the Mexican border.
The problem isn't immigrants - it's illegal immigrants coming here and living off of us, and companies emplying them. Cut off aid to illegals, and actually FINE companies that hire them, and the problem stops, it IS that simple.
Todd - you may need to think about an 'Off-topic' forum for stuff like where this is going...
yeah italy should do the same...the question is, would they....NOt only do Europe needs to the online gambling capital of the world but they need to have a system like the "Stock market" or the Forex " be very widely available over there and be very popular in their country so people can use them..Something where people with money can make their money multiply, besides starting a bussiness.....I feel that the internet needs to be widely available and without restriction in these countries, except for porn...but the internet needs to be booming in these countries....And if they are going to have online gambling the lotteries if that's what they chose needs to give out lots of millions in money and not just 2 or 3 million dollars....This is what specially England & Italy need to do...
".For the glory of Rome..."
Ha! That was a fairly ironic post. You greatly expanded the scope of the thread by throwing in a political statement about the wall we're going to build on our southern border, and then recommend I create an off-topic forum for posting that kind of stuff!
The comments about taxes and such are directly on-topic, as taxes are likely the primary reason the dopey US lawmakers created the law in the first place. I can't see any connection at all with your wall comment.
(However, since you brought it up, I'll just point you to this Blog entry, which provides my commentary on why comparisons to the Berlin Wall are ludicrous, and why the fence bill is the best thing congress has passed in years.)
I forgot to mention that, Not only England needs to start with the online gambling, so should Argentina, Spain, Brazil, India, France....
Also when i mentioned the Forex i meant currency exchange trading...have it in every of those countries listed so people with money can make their money duplicate/multiply....
The difference between the stock market and the Forex is that the stock market is based on supply and demand while the forex's currency exchange/trading is based on volume....
"...For the glory of Rome..."
China has their own DNS servers and listings as part of their firewall. The minute the US delisted anything from ICANN then that would be the end to any central registry.
Democrats passed the harshest online gambling bill in the US in WA state where it is now illegal to even talk online about online gambling. So don't hold any hopes up as far as either party not having a bunch of crooks in them.
I'm sure the US will try to pressure other countries into banning online gambling but the money is too great for other coutries not to try it.
Yeah dvdiva that's what makes me mad, that the U.S is going to try to pressure other countries into banning online gambling or that other countries will imitate what the U.S does...They always do because of the idea that the best always comes from the U.S and in here they know what they are doing, and is true, but i disagree about online gambling though...I mean the U.S is not always correct 100% all the time...And that's what i wish they see...You know why i like it, because it creates millionaires (This is why i feel there should have like a stock market or forex currency exchange were people that become rich and make their money multiply) and is a second source of income that can go into education..And yes there is the belief that online lottery only makes people waste their money, but what i just said out weighs the consequences...And this is a rare point of view that i have but, I don't think ONline gambling will do well here in America, because there are going to be so many crooks trying to cheat or beat the game and i am convinced that will not happened abroad (think about it, in America (and japan) there is more knowlege on how to hack a website, RnG experiments and science, How to hack a credit card, than there is in the country of Spain or Peru for example...Put simply: (To many freaks and gambling addicts here in America : ) (is just my opinion)...Experiment: No one in the country of Spain i bet knows what a RnG is, Here in America people know what a RnG is...In Peru (i read this on the news, spanish channel), very few people have access to the internet, and fewer know English, here in America, the internet is common...
"Laura Simpson from Great Lakes, Illinois, deserves to be rich..." "She is so rare..."
I said: (This is why i feel there should have like a stock market or forex currency exchange were people that become rich and make their money multiply)....And i meant to say: (this is why i feel there should have like a stock market or forex currency exchange where people that become rich CAN make their money multiply...)
Also, i don't know but i would think that online gambling includes online lottery, but I feel that not many people play free lottos anyways, so how are they going to play online lottery. Unless they raise the jackpots or make the games easier...