Tessa Jowell, UK's culture secretary, will urge 32 countries to support a code of principles on online gambling this week. This is the first major effort on behalf of the international community to regulate the industry after the recent U.S. law regarding online gambling.
A number of countries will meet outside of London tomorrow for discussions, hosted by Jowell. Britain, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and other countries will agree on a code of conduct for companies that own and operate gambling websites.
The various countries' representatives will discuss age and identification verification systems, including the role of government in smoothing access to high quality data for gambling operators to identify customers. Also on the agenda are talks about social responsibility associated with remote gambling, including the role of government and whether operators should be required to fund awareness campaigns on problem gambling or offer links to counseling on the subject.
Jowell criticized the U.S. last week for trying to force a "new prohibition" against online gaming. She added that Bush's measures would prompt fraud and crime by forcing the industry to work illegally from nations that do not regulate the Web.
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