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Online Casino History A Brief History of Success
A Brief Account of Initial Days of Online Gambling
Online casino history started in the decade of 1990. In the year 1995, the first ever online casino hit the market and marveled everyone. The name of this internet based casino was Internet Casinos Inc. (in short, ICI). The first ever virtual casino was launched on 18th August 1995. During the initial phase this company started to operate from the islands of Caicos and Turks. Internet Casinos Inc. started its operation outside America because they feared prosecution from the Government of United States of America.
Tell Us Something More About the History of Virtual Betting
What is the total duration of the online casino history? The answer of this question is 10 years. Casinos have always been popular among human world. However, a gambling aficionado has to travel long distances to play and enjoy the fun of gambling. Online casinos have helped these betting lovers to enjoy the games right from their home. Thus, you dont have to move from one place to another to play the virtual casino games. Some of these characteristic features of virtual casinos make it immensely popular among gambling aficionados.
Is online casino history absolutely smooth? Wasnt there any hiccup in the entire history of internet based gambling? Yes, there were many hindrances in the entire progress path of internet based casinos. The main hindrance that online gambling industry faces is the legal threat to it. Still now, the main hiccup to online betting of USA is UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act). According to this law, any kind of payments related to online betting is illegal. This law does not make online gambling illegal directly. Consequently, many online casinos have stopped allowing players from America. These are some of the hiccups faced by online gambling industry in the entire online casino history.
Now, Let Us Check The Evolutionary Chronology of Online Casino History
1. In the Year 1994, a new Act was passed by the Government of Antigua-Barbuda, known as The Free Trade and Processing Zone Act, 1994. Many internet based casinos as well as sports-books have license of the same and this license is considered as one of the most popular licenses among the internet based gambling industry.
2. One of the largest providers of software in online betting is Microgaming. It is a huge software development company, which has mastered the techniques of generating software for online betting sites. This company was founded in the year of 1994. In the following year, that is 1995, another software developing giant called Cryptologic was launched.
3. 1996 has special significance in online casino history. In this year, the first internet based casino site that accepts real money was launched. In the month of October of 1996, InterCasino first launched such a virtual casino that deals with real money.
4. First ever gambling related Act was introduced by a US Congress Senator named Jon Kyl. The year was 1998. The name of this Act was Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. According to this, a company will be regarded as illegal if it offers betting services to any American. This Act was not passed by the US Senate. A revised version of this Act was also placed in the US Senate in the following year, i.e. 1999, but this was also voted down by the Senate. In the same year, a renowned company called Frost and Sullivan published a research report and mentioned in it that online gambling has generated a mammoth amount of revenue of US$ 834.5 million.
5. Internet Gambling Prohibition Act was introduced by a Congress representative, Bob Goodlatte, in the US House of Representatives in the year 2000. However, this Act was also voted down and it failed to acquire the required two-third majority vote. In the year 2000, Cryptologic had published their annual report where it was mentioned that 680,000 customers had used their system of electronic payment already. 2000 was an auspicious year for Cryptologic. It got listed in NASDAQ and received the symbol, CRYP.
6. Year 2004 was specifically important for online gambling. In this year itself, WTO (World Trade Organization) ruled against US regarding legal issues and sided with the Government of Antigua-Barbuda. According to WTO, it is unethical and illegal for American government to restrict online gambling because it allows land based casinos as well as horserace-betting sites to operate in US.
In the same year, Christiansen Capital Advisors has shown figures that 51% of the total revenues from online betting across the world (approximately US$ 8.5 Million) came from United States of America itself.
Thus, we can conclude that online casino history is not bed of roses and is full of ups and downs.
International Climate Change Lottery a Possibility
Lotteries are popular around the world and provide funding for a wide variety of government programs, charities, veterans groups and many other organizations. Despite the ongoing global recession lotteries continue to do well and make a profit. In the US most states operate lotteries and there are two major multi state lotteries, Powerball and Mega Millions. Several countries have national lotteries such as the UK and Canada. In Europe the cross border lottery EuroMillions is popular and offers huge tax free jackpots. So far no one has implemented a global lottery but that may change if participants at the next climate change meeting in Cancun Mexico have their way.
The idea of a global lottery has been around since the 1970s and is has been estimated that the global lottery market is worth about $126 billion dollars a year with gross profits amounting to $62 billion dollars a year. Climate change is a controversial topic in many countries but proponents of the global lottery say that it could fund a wide variety of research projects. Revenue generated by the climate change lottery would be channeled to one or many climate research funds.
There are several hurdles that would have to be overcome. Opposition from established government sanctioned lotteries is almost certain. It has been estimated that the global lottery could siphon profits from other lotteries to the tune of $6.2 billion dollars a year resulting in diminished profits for state and national lotteries. Political opposition from any of the first world countries could easily kill any lottery deal. In some countries religious concerns could prevent participation in a global lottery and ethical concerns would have to be addressed.
A global climate change lottery would attract many people who do not normally participate in state and national lotteries. Climate change is a hot topic and many have strong views in favor of climate research and would probably participate and buy lottery tickets for a climate change lottery. The sale of tickets for the climate change lottery would have to be addressed. In Europe, New Zealand and Australia players can purchase online lottery tickets but in the US recently passed online gaming laws and vague regulations could pose a problem for ticket sales.
Some proponents of the climate change lottery have suggested using the EuroMillions lottery as a model for the global climate change lottery. EuroMillions is a joint multi nation lottery where the bets of participants in nine countries are pooled into a larger jackpot. An International Climate Change Lottery could be a step in the right direction and would not cost taxpayers a dime!