CHINA CRACKS DOWN ON ONLINE GAMING - Author: KatA 

The Chinese government announced earlier this month that they would be cracking down on the country’s illegal online gambling. While many governments have made such claims, very few have successfully followed through. However, apparently this government means business. In the weeks since the announcement was made, they’ve been aggressively going after all un-licensed gambling operators. With 918 arrests made so far, it’s clear that the government’s plan to shut down illegal online operations may be the most effective the industry has ever seen. So far no players have been targeted and everyone arrested has been directly tied to the operation of unregulated sites. 200 such sites have already been shut down with many more expected to go. The series of stings currently being carried out is expected to continue for at least six months. People are speculating that by the time it comes to an end, thousands of arrests could be made. However, as effective as China’s efforts have been, the government can only go after sites registered in their country. Foreign sites targeting Chinese citizens are currently immune. So far, this crackdown has actually been a good thing for these foreign sites. The sites are now facing much less competition from within China and they’re aggressively going after the many Chinese players who have lost access to their old sites. With so many Chinese players looking for a new place to gamble online, the competition from these foreign sites is apparently getting quite intense. This will be an interesting situation to watch over the coming year as many other governments move towards legalizing online gaming. It will be especially interesting to watch as one of the major arguments for legalized gaming is that outlawing it simply drives it underground and puts gamblers at risk. If anyone can effectively pull of an outright ban, I think this is the government to do it. Although I have my doubts as to how completely effective even this extremely efficient government can be.