ABSTRACT
Online gambling exists on a legal continuum. Currently, several countries prohibit most or all forms of online gambling. This includes Bermuda, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Germany, Greece, India, Malaysia, Romania, South Africa, and the Ukraine. In addition, many (predominantly Islamic) countries ban online gambling by virtue of their ban on all forms of gambling: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Mali, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab emirates, and Yemen (Online Casino Suite, 2011). At the other end are countries that have either completely legalized, or at least permit, all forms of online gambling. These include Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Netherland Antilles, Panama, the Philippines, Slovakia, and the United kingdom. In the middle are countries that have put some legal restrictions on it. For example, many countries allow certain forms (most typically online lotteries, instant lotteries, sports betting, horse racing) and make other forms illegal (most typically, casino games). Countries with this policy include Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canadian provinces, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Hong kong, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United States. Several jurisdictions allow participation in online gambling from domestic sites, but prohibit residents from accessing online gambling outside the country. Jurisdictions with this approach include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, estonia, France, Germany, Hong kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Norway, Slovenia, South korea, and the United States. Some countries go further to restrict patronage of domestic online sites to residents only (e.g., Austria, Canadian provinces, Finland, the Philippines). Finally, a few countries permit online gambling, but prohibit their own residents from accessing these sites (e.g., Australia for online casinos, Malta, Papua New Guinea).
