Switzerland to legalize Internet Online Gambling

A draft proposal towards regulating Internet gaming was published by the Swiss Government Wednesday April 22. As like many other countries, Switzerland sees online gaming growing in popularity, but feels that without monitoring it their citizens are easily exposed to gambling excess, and without licensing their government coffers receive no tax benefit.

It is reported that online lotteries and Internet sports betting are already legal in Switzerland, so the government already has some experience in this area.

Apparently the Swiss response will be to license an as-yet-undetermined number of online gaming sites, while cracking down on the black market operators that persist in doing business with Swiss citizens. The Swiss Ministry of Justice says it will craft a proposal licensing legal online gambling sites.

Economists predict regulation of Internet gaming could net the Swiss government as much as $22 million annually.
 

Sherman Bradley OCA gaming analyst says,"It makes sense for Switzerland to control its burgeoning online gaming industry with licensing and regulation. The Swiss are too logical a people to follow the prohibition mistakes that have failed in other countries."