At a meeting held on February 28, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission also reconsidered its position with regard to cross-border gambling and resolved to adopt the following principles in this regard:
The Commission is aware that some countries have introduced laws to prevent foreign egambling operators from offering gambling services in their jurisdictions. Some of these laws relate to a genuine concern about the social impact of gambling in general, while others have introduced such laws to protect the local gambling industry. Irrespective of the rationale for such laws, the Commission does not see itself as being responsible for enforcing the laws of other countries;
The onus is on the licensee to ensure that, at all times, he conducts his business in a lawful manner and therefore to keep abreast of the laws of the jurisdictions within which he conducts business;
The Commission takes a keen interest in the legal actions involving its licensees, irrespective of the jurisdiction, as it may affect the general suitability of the licensee to hold a licence;
The Commission supports a free-market approach towards egambling, which means that it will not prevent its licensees from offering gambling to players in other countries, whether it is egaming or ebetting;
The Commission is of the view that the egambling transaction takes place where the egaming or ebetting transaction server and database are based. Hence, the requirement that the egambling servers be based within the Commission’s regulatory jurisdiction.
“At the end of the day accepting bets from the US, China or wherever is a business decisions and not a regulatory one,” commented André Wilsenach, CEO of Alderney Gambling Control Commission.