Gambling Licenses
March 08, 2006
The
Gambling Act, mainly applying to the designed to
control all forms of
gambling. It will transfer authority for
licensing gambling from the
Magistrates' Courts to local authorities or
to Scottish
licensing boards.
The Act gives its objectives as
(a) Preventing gambling from being a source of crime or
disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or
being used to support crime,
(b) Ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and
open way.
(c) Protecting children and other vulnerable persons
from being harmed or exploited by gambling.
Some provisions of the bill faced controversy,
particularly in its original form, where it would have
allowed large numbers of so-called super casinos to have
been set up With the Parliamentary session drawing to a
close, a compromise was agreed to reduce this to one.
The Act also specifically regulates
internet gambling for the first time.
The bill is wide and those in the promotions of industry
expect its impact to be significant. Its regulation of
(illegal) lotteries is likely to have interesting
effects. No purchase necessary is the clause beloved on
on-product promotions and semi-legal competitions will
go, replaced with the so-called New Zealand Model where
purchase may be a requirement, if the purchase is at the
"normal selling price". It remains to be seen whether
this condition is enforceable in practice.
The Potential more seriously, this provision in the
legislation will enable a new category of premium-rate
"lottery" promotion - where entry is conditional on the
purchase of a product of dubious value, and where the
purchase is purely a justification for participation in
a high-prize lottery.
The currently provisions relating to skill-based
competitions are also to be reformed, and in promotions
with skill and chance based "rounds", the skill round
must occur first, and there are definitions within the
Act as to what constitutes "skill".
Licensing:
The Gaming Control Board also has full authority to
grant or deny licenses to gaming establishments, their
ownership, employees, and vendors. In order to obtain a
license, an applicant must demonstrate that they possess
good character,
honesty and
integrity. License application forms
typically require detailed personal information. Based
upon the type of license being sought, an applicant may
also be required to disclose details regarding previous
business relationships, employment history, criminal
records, and financial stability.
Generally, the gaming license application process and
subsequent investigation is quite burdensome in
comparison to the process of obtaining other
government-issued licenses. The difficulty of the
process is intended to dissuade participation by
unsavory persons and
organized crime.
The order of simplify the application process, various
gaming control boards have collaborated on the design of
"multi-jurisdictional" application forms. Persons or
vendors who are involved in gaming in multiple
jurisdictions may now complete one application form and
submit copies to each jurisdiction.
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