The British Gaming Board is gearing up to handle a promised spate of illegal real money gambling on the Internet, possibly by cracking down on Internet service providers.

The problem has not surfaced yet. Despite promises by Interactive Gaming & Communications to provide real money gambling on the Internet by September this year, all we have so far is arcade style gambling games. And the Gaming Board, the casino watchdog, while keeping a close eye on developments, wouldn?t wager on the existence of virtual casinos with real money betting any time soon. However, several companies are said to be planning such ventures.

The 1968 Gaming Act clearly did not anticipate the possibilities of the virtual casino. As the present law stands it would be illegal for a UK company to introduce online gambling, on the grounds that transmission of wagering information over a wire is unlawful. However the Gaming Board would have no power to prevent people gambling with overseas operations.

The Gaming Board believes that the only way to tackle the problem comprehensively would be to place restrictions on the Internet service providers. This will not prevent people from gambling but will make it harder to access. Most service providers are already very vigilant in purging their systems of illegal material.

Virtual casinos are currently hindered by the infancy of online financial transaction security. While encryption technology may soon make transactions secure, it will be a long time before it will gain the trust of the general public.

The Gaming Board hopes that people will be put off online gambling by the danger of exposure to fraud. Casino gambling relies heavily on the fact that it is difficult to tamper with the results. No home PC gambler can ever be assured that he is receiving the ?true odds?.