The UK Gambling Commission representatives announced that they were about to scrutinise the eSports skin betting and its impact on the gambling industry on the territory of the United Kingdom.
The gambling regulator issued a report outlining the main priorities of the Commission. Sarah Harrison, the CEO of the UKGC, revealed that the board members are to concentrate on the digital currencies and gambling products that are yet to become widespread in the UK.
For the time being, no further information about the digital currencies issue has been revealed, but Ms. Harrison said that the regulator has to ensure a legislative framework that protects players against dishonest practices and protects the vulnerable part of the population – kids and young people, from any negative consequences the new gambling products can bring about.
Skin betting has been a widely discussed matter over the last couple of weeks because of the advertising campaign in which betting sites were promoted by famous names in the eSports industry. However, the eSports stars were unable to disclose ownership of the promoted sites.
Meanwhile, the UK Gambling Commission introduced a new amendment related to the gambling advertisements policy. According to the new regulations, operators have to take the necessary actions towards preventing the advertising of their brand in unregulated websites. The new condition was introduced after a consultation in May and it is based on the views of pioneers in the gambling industry namely William Hill, Federation Against Copyright Theft, the Alliance for Intellectual Property.
In addition, gambling operators will be responsible for ensuring that all third parties they have a contract with are aware of the new amendment and do not place ads on forbidden websites.
In case there are any published ads on websites that provide copyrighted content, the operators should have to “react quickly and effectively” and remove them. The new amendment is expected to come into force this autumn.
Another gambling legislation change communities have been recently informed about was related to the license fees gambling operators will be required to pay from April 2017 onwards. More than half of all licensed providers of gambling services would be able to enjoy a reduced fee.
The new cost structure is to be based on the gross gambling yield and smaller gambling providers will pay less in fees. According to an announcement of a UK Gambling Commission representative, the new structure ensures “fairness and value for money for the gambling industry”.
- Author
Daniel Williams
