Increase in Online Accessibility Prompts Vietnamese Regulation

It looks as if the Vietnamese will be next in regulating the online casino industry (after the unprecedented scope of the UK Gambling Bill was passed by Parliament) - and it may come sooner than the UK Gambling Bill will go into full effect.

The Ministry of Post and Telematics has informed the general populace that it will be publishing a comprehensive procedural that will instruct on how to regulate online casinos, as well as how to go about licensing them.  The government is expecting this to be finished by the end of 2005.

The impetus for online regulation comes as nearly 10% of Vietnam's population now has internet access.  And with a penchant for betting at online casinos already, regulation looks like the most realistic and viable option.

The government sees the potential for trouble in the rate that online gaming technology is developing and evolving.  As long as casinos are online and internet betting is available to anyone who has a computer - And as long as the act of gambling online can be anonymous, undetectable and untraceable, people will be gambling in online casinos, which has the potential of causing social imbalances - especially among the young.