One third of online gambling sites open to minors

[The Buzz]

The UK's Gambling Commission has found that one-third of online gambling sites are accessible to minors. The commission was able to fund accounts using debit cards registered to minors.

A full story from the Telegraph can be found here ... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...under-18s.html

[TheGooner]

(no to shoot Buzzy as the messenger ... but to rant at journolistic bollocks ..)

What a crock of sh!t that headline at the Telegraph is ...

Debit cards are issued to the general public, directly taking money from bank accounts, and during a debit card transaction there is NO WAY to query the host and determine a date of birth or age limit.

So the fact that a site accepts debit cards (that may or may not be issued to an under 18 year old) is not a deficiency at all ... it's simply allowing a widely popular payment method in the UK.

That's like saying supermarkets should not accept cash for cigarettes or alcohol ... because under 18's frequently carry cash ... absolutely absurd ... but that's is the same inference that they've drawn with with debit cards.

Later on it says ... Gambling sites have a series of measures to weed out under-age users and in most cases the commission found shortcomings in only one check, meaning that children may still have been caught by others.

Gerry Sutcliffe, the culture minister, said: "The majority of the tests showed that policies and procedures to prevent children from gambling on remote sites are effectively in place."

So I guess 33% of sites are not open to under 18's after all then ??!

Once again the headline does not match the substance of the story ... how many times have we seen that recently ....

[joeyl]

Experts warned that the loopholes could allow a generation of young people to become addicted to gambling.

# The only "expert" mentioned is the SDP Culture spokesman Don Foster , who has a background consisting of nothing remotely related to gambling, or anything financial as far as i'm aware.

# The reporter John Bingham has no specific background relating to Gaming or financial matters either.

# No quote from Gamcare.

Pinch of salt territory i'm afraid.

The problem is, underage gaming is a very serious subject, which I won't bang on about here for too long.

That said, if Don Foster, or Bingham wants to get involved in underage gaming issues, they can go to the nearest seaside resort and start there. I can escort them and see how quick they can lose £100 on a licensed category D arcade machine, the ones children are legal to play on.