Internet: on-line gambling enters HK as charges brought against gamblers

Zygna's game is the first "real cash" online game to openly say it is targeting gamblers in Hong Kong where all forms of gambling, except those run by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and its subsidiaries, are illegal. It is presently available in Chinese only. In Hong Kong both the organisers of a game and those who play are exposed to the risk of prosecution.

At the end of July, a group of financial services professionals were charged with taking part in a physical game of Texas Holdem, a version of poker. Several anonymous game organisers promote games, always held at different venues which are announced almost immediately before the game starts even though the activity is illegal. The eight people charged include Michael TAN Boon Suan, a securities trader and corporate financial adviser with Merrill Lynch, according to a report in Apple Daily. More than HKD3 million was seized, it is reported.

Hong Kong's strict anti-gambling laws have been the subject of much debate as to whether they cover on-line gambling, much of it turning on where the gambling takes place. But the most prevalent view is that the offence is committed where the gambler is physically located. This is consistent with cases that established that telephone gambling occurs in HK even if the bet is placed outside HK.

The penalty - for a first offence - can be jail for three months plus a small fine. No pleas have yet been entered.

Hong Kong has told payment processors that they are liable if they allow their systems to be used for payment for stakes or debts arising from gambling.

It is understood that, to date, no player has been prosecuted for taking part in on-line gambling but there have been a number of prosecutions for other forms of remote gambling.

The popularity of remote gambling is demonstrated in the UK where many TV channels run live games of a variety of forms with viewers taking part - and paying - by telephone. In the UK any company, including foreign internet company, which offers gambling services to anyone present in the UK must be regulated in the UK. However, this is widely held to be an ineffective measure.

The USA has prosecuted the operators of several gambling websites, including a number registered and operating overseas. It has also confiscated funds held by payment processors - just this week the Allied group of two companies has given up its battle to recover more than USD13 million frozen by the US Department of Justice.

US Representative Barney Frank has attempted to bring a Bill which would facilitate on-line gambling provided a series of conditions are met. These include that payments may be made by debit - but not credit - card, that the gambler sets stop-loss limits, that sports betting remains illegal, restrictions on advertising and declining to accept bets from addicts that subscribe to a self-exclusion list or reported as being in arrears under child support payments. Regulation would be by a division of the US Treasury. However, Frank has had little support for his proposals.

Google Ads delivers a significant number of gambling advertisements based on the readership of web pages, so exposing children reading about on-line gambling and those looking for information on how to combat their addition to advertisements promoting the very harm they are looking to address.