Online Casinos of Europe May Need UK License

The British government has been under attack recently, follow several accusations by local online casinos and betting companies that the British online gambling scene is an unfair playing field. According to the accusations, the British Government is currently imposing many rules and restrictions on local online casinos and betting websites, whilst foreign sites are not required to adhere to them. In response to the accusations, Britain's Department for Culture, Media and Sports announced that it is seriously considering licensing foreign online casinos.

However, whilst receiving a British license may be beneficial, it would also require that the online casinos that do obtain them adhere to both the rules and industry standards currently in place in Britain. For example, the country currently requires that all online casinos share their information regarding strange betting behaviour, and also actively prevent child and problem gambling. Furthermore, the decision to license out foreign online casinos may mean that other casinos from already white-list-approved EU member countries currently advertising in the UK may have to apply for a license in order to continue doing so.

According to EU rules regarding online casino gambling, one member must accept the other member's rules, however different they may be, and therefore consider their license to be equal to their own. The only exception to this rule is when a justification can be made in the name of public welfare, and in this case, the UK may argue that it is fighting to protect its citizens from problem and child gambling. The casinos may also need to be taxed ,and this alone will surely cause outrage.