New Technology & Age Old Crimes

The development of the internet brought online gambling to the EU but now providers within the market have to face up to the public perceptions of 500 million citizens

Somewhat famously Mr. Ken Olsen, the founder of Digital Equipment Corp, once said “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.” Which is laughable now but at the time was a worrying limitation on the business model. It was considered, even by such knowledgeable insiders, that the computer would be a tool for business, the military and government, but not for the general populous. After all, what would the great unwashed masses do with such complex technology?

The answer, as we now are all painfully aware, is just about everything, but the computer was just one half of this dynamic that has swept the world and remade it in ones-&-zeroes, the other half was the internet that turned the plastic box of electronics, that had perhaps helped us as word processor or basic games machine, into the most expansive all encompassing accompaniment to western living since the invention of mass media. The digital revolution changed the world, and ironically was definitely televised.

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Today no one doubts the unlimited scope of the net, the borders of possibility seemingly pushed back on a daily basis, both in terms of performance and facility, as well as in effect and repercussion. The internet might well have provided infinite opportunity to watch amusing cat videos, but it has also brought down governments and shaken the grip on power exercised by the rich elites that have for so long dominated by the limitation of information dissemination. It has been a proverbial boon, but as well as solve many problems, it has created a few of its own.

The old crimes of fraud, embezzlement, blackmail and theft have all adapted to the internet, the old school press joyously publicizing every leaked photo, every hacked account, every fool that was ripped off by a Nigerian prince who just needed to use their bank account for a few days. The public perception is that the internet is fraught with dangers and hideous things lurking in the shadows, from scams and phishing, to child porn and snuff movies. It is a perception that is not entirely without foundation.

The Snowden Effect

EU gambling laws are a patchwork of transnational, national and even regional regulations, covering the entire spectrum from liberal to draconian, and the introduction of online gambling produced yet more complexity to a supposedly uniform federation of nation states. Whilst the EU's growing pains have been of significant limitation where markets have failed to be opened up to the full range of nations within the EU, and quite often the objections or difficulties cited are ones of legality, taxation, and security.

That last one has become the most salient in the wake of Mr. Edward Snowden demonstrated that not only were all the paranoid tinfoil-hatted conspiracy theorists all actually right and the powers that be really were reading everyone's emails, but that even a government security and intelligence agency was just as prone to the dangers that this brave new world had created as the rest of us. Something not everyone finds comforting.

Sites providing internet betting in EU have long kept pace with the technology of secure transaction. The banking system adapted well to the fast pace of internet transactions and transfers, working with credit card companies and the new internet payment services, such as PayPal, to provide smooth secure electronic money for this new frontier of capitalism. Gambling sites were in the vanguard of both using and improving these new systems, however the public perception remains dubious at best.

That lack of trust is sometimes cited as being part of the zeitgeist of the 21st society is now far less trusting, far more suspicious and cautious, that it has hitherto been, and that the reticence shown on the internet, which is admittedly being eroded by massive retailers offering online what people can't be bothered to go shopping for, is just a component part of that. Our mistrust of say, EU poker rooms, fed quite a bit by the old school media and press, is also given more to chew on by us ourselves.

Reputation Reaps Rewards

Be we concerned with our privacy or the security of our funds, there is a tendency amongst internet users to be more trusting of other internet users than of those with whom we do business. We read Trip Adviser and Amazon reviews, we leave comments on eBay and read those of others. Far from being the anonymous monolith feared by science fiction writers, the internet has increased the need for a good reputation a thousand-fold. Word of mouth takes on a whole new dimension when that word can reach millions.

Those of us that like to bet on sports in the EU will not be alone in reading reviews of the online gambling site we're thinking of using beforehand. We'll see what other users have said about the site and what difficulties, if any, they've experienced. This requirement for a spotless reputation is enhanced by the sheer longevity of information on the internet, a bad review from half a dozen years ago can still cause potential business to turn away today. This then places the emphasis squarely on customer service and security.

There will still be, however, some people determined to spoil it for the rest of us. Those happy few that bumble into an obvious phishing site or scam business online, and their outrageous stupidity and forlorn faces in the pages of the tabloids will give ample ammunition for those that seek to limit internet freedom to impose ridiculous regulations or prohibitions on what people can and can't do online. The dangers on the internet are by no means as worrying as the dangers to the internet.

Whilst the EU hasn't entirely got its act together yet the expansion and broadening of gambling services offered to its citizenry will only increase over time. Those nations around the world that have sought to attempt to rein in this new horizon have found it all but impossible to achieve, and in the end their efforts will collapse in futility. The EU is perhaps fortunate to still have a chance to follow the lead of members like the UK, Gibraltar and Malta in sensible regulation, when it chooses to do so is another matter.