Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 May 2005
440 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if prosecutions have been taken in respect of breaches of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1979; if the legislation needs to be reformed to take account of the global economy introduced with the Internet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14452/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn May 1999 an interdepartmental review group was tasked to examine the Gaming and Lotteries Acts 1956-86. In its report, published in June 2000, the group concluded:
separate standards for off-line and on-line environments will only create serious problems for society in the longer term. However, liability issues in the internet gambling area are likely to be as complex as in other areas of internet activity. In an internet environment, special consideration would have to be given to both the liability and protection of the player. With internet operations, the provider may not be within the jurisdiction and may be providing a service which may be legal where the service is being hosted, but illegal where the service is being accessed. This is not an unusual phenomenon in internet services. The logistical not to speak of legal difficulties of dealing with this situation and of enforcing the law at player level are enormous. Attempts to fix liability at internet service provider level are also fraught with difficulties.
The range of illegal uses of the Internet and the enforcement difficulties associated with such use were also examined in the first report of the working group on the illegal and harmful use of the Internet published in 1998. While that report did not examine the specific problems associated with gambling on the Internet, many of the conclusions reached in the report are valid for the gambling area.
Under a code of practice and ethics agreed by the Irish Internet service provider industry in 2002, material or services that are illegal under Irish law will not be carried on Irish servers, and if such is found they will be removed immediately under agreed protocols.
