Gambling in Cyberspace the Ethical Dilemma - Essay Example

? Gambling in Cyberspace the Ethical Dilemma Executive Summary Online gambling has elicited raging debates in the United States especially as regards ethical concerns. It is linked to illegal transactions and this has prompted the need to enforce ethical standards towards the issue (Collins, 2003). Advances in information technology have enhanced global access to the internet. As more and more people are able to access the internet, there has been increasing need of examining what is proper and what is wrong for users of the internet to do, as well as the general social and economic impacts of information technology. With the technological advancements, it has become increasingly important to understand ethics related to this phenomenon such as concerning privacy and security issues (Lim, 2007). Online gambling has emerged as one of the most debated issues when the ethics of information technology is discussed. This can be attributed to the fact that gaming industry has started to sweep across the American nation, and as such, a flood of ethical issues has been in tandem with it (Ho?rnle and Zammit, 2010). This paper will discuss the ethical dilemma of gambling in cyberspace. Introduction Online gambling is officially considered to have started on 18 August 1995 when Internet Casinos Inc. put the first virtual casino upon the internet. This site offered 18 different online gambling games. The online gambling industry gained prominence and in less than four years, it had exploded. It is estimated that in 1996 alone, about $1.2 million had been wagered online. It was estimated that this amount had increased to $10 billion annually by 2000 (Dunnington, 2003). Online gambling has grown over the years to have an effect on many people and spheres of the American society. For example, a number of states in recent years have taken it upon themselves in implementing commercial casinos in order to generate takes, as well as provide monetary relief for state governments facing budget deficits. It has however been observed that gambling has led to addiction thus raising ethical issues in the society (Spapens, Littler and Fijnaut, 2008). It is argued that it has led to increase in crime, as well as social and psychological problems associated directly with losing. Nonetheless, from an economic point of view, online gambling help to create jobs and generate taxes for state governments. It is estimated that gambling industry influences about one million are directly or indirectly. As such, while it presents some ethical issues, there are economic benefits to justify it. It is because of this reason that there has been ethical dilemma regarding gambling, and more particularly about online gaming (Gainsbury, 2012). Primarily, there are two main standpoints for the ethical dilemma of gambling in cyberspace: the arguments against online gambling and arguments made for online gambling. The opponents of online gaming argue that it further confuses the legality issue, as it blurs the line between illegal and legal gambling. Different states have varying position on gambling and therefore confusion reigns from one state to another on varying extent (Ho?rnle and Zammit, 2010). According to available data, 48 states have certain forms of legalized gambling such as casino games, racetracks, and lotteries. However, they lack or have little consistency in gambling laws. Some states have outlawed casino gambling but have made them legal based on reservations. The critics of online gambling further argue that it breeds addiction. In some cases, online gaming has been criticized of giving access to millions of people who would otherwise not have access to such amount of money. Therefore, it has led the society to have more gamblers and so more addicts of gambling (Harrison, 2000). The consequence of this has been that some people have even sacrificed their homes and jobs over the need of paying off gambling debts. This has caused depression and stress on the affected individuals and their family members (Collins, 2003). The other argument against online gaming as related to the ethical dilemma of gambling in cyberspace is that it promotes cheating and fraud. Its critics claim that sites for online gambling already have become a haven for con men and hackers. Most of online gamblers buy credit online using their credit cards (Ho?rnle and Zammit, 2010). The fraud is usually complex if it involves skilled hackers because they would have numerous credit card numbers to charge illegally to. Many consumer activists sites online gambling fraud as the main reason why it should be regulated or halted altogether. They argue that it lacks proper consumer protection mechanisms. Another major dilemma to online gambling is the argument that it makes cheating easier (Spapens, Littler and Fijnaut, 2008). It is no doubt that cheating amounts to breach of ethics as it can not only cause other gamblers a loss, but can also cost casinos a lot of money. Even though casinos have many cameras mounted to monitor onsite cheating, it is near impossible to monitor gamblers betting at home or in other unmonitored locations. Like fraud, cheating is considered as one of the major ethical issues in online gambling especially due to the fact that players can cheat from any location using their electronic devices which have internet connection (Dunnington, 2003). Moreover, ethical dilemma of gambling in the cyberspace is also founded on the arguments made for online gambling. The proponents of online gambling argue that despite efforts to enact online gambling law-by-law officials and legislators, online casinos will still be able to offer their services without any fear especially if they are not within the United States (Collins, 2003). They further argue that online gambling regulation or ban cannot be effective if it does not have full support internationally. It is unlikely for the United States to ban solely online gambling or to regulate it effectively. In other words, any law enacted in regard to online gambling will be unenforceable, and therefore a useless law (Gainsbury, 2012). Considering the fact that it is near impossible to marshal international support to enforce online gambling laws, policy makers and law enforcement agencies are faced with a huge dilemma of not only regulating and controlling it, but also of finding appropriate means of addressing this issue, which presents some serious challenges to the American society. The other dilemma related to ethical dilemma of online gambling is the argument that it should not be banned, but it should be regulated. As has been noted, it will be near impossible to wipe out all online casinos. As such, there is need for a more realistic approach to the online gambling issue; the focus should be more on regulation rather than banning if the efforts are to be successful (Ho?rnle and Zammit, 2010). The other ethical dilemma of online gambling has to do with the whole issue of gambling. Banning of online gambling can only be said to be the first step because online gambling cannot be the only target. Presently, gambling as a whole is legal in many states across America (Spapens, Littler and Fijnaut, 2008). Gambling such as church bingo and lottery is legal in many states and therefore banning of online gaming can just be considered the initial step towards banning all kinds of gambling. It is argued that once the first ban has been made, it will be much easier to pass the other bans as well. Related to this dilemma is the dilemma that cracking down of online gambling may scare off legitimate casinos (Harrison, 2000). The proponents of online gambling are of the view that regulation of gambling may be counterproductive. In fact, numerous legitimate casino operators intend to enter the online market but they are still waiting for the legal dust to settle before they make that move. Even though the federal law is not expected to stop all online gambling, it is feared that legitimate operators may opt out of it if there is uncertainty (Collins, 2003). Individuals who are making their money legally will be reluctant to get into it. Also, operators of legitimate casinos will not want to risk their traditional casino licenses. Conclusion It can be observed from the above discussion that indeed, there exists a serious ethical dilemma regarding gambling in cyberspace. As has been mentioned before, this ethical dilemma relates to two main standpoints: arguments for online gambling and arguments against online gambling. In the midst of these all-ethical dilemmas which keep haunting the gambling industry, there are evident benefits that are very hard to resist. Gambling provides various economic benefits to the society especially by creating employment opportunities and providing additional revenues for states to fill their budget deficits. It is estimated that gambling industry influences about one million are directly or indirectly. Despite online gambling providing clear benefits, it is evidently clear that it also present some challenges to the society ranging from social, economic to psychological challenges. It leads to addiction and this may result to players giving up their homes and savings to pay off debts accrued because of online gambling. The federal government needs to put in place mechanisms that balance these dilemmas in order to help address the problems resulting from it and at the same time allowing the American society to benefit from it. To achieve this, it should establish new regulations that reflect both side of the ethical dilemma in online gambling. References Collins, P. (2003). Gambling and the public interest. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Praeger. Dunnington, A. (2003). Gambling online. Hove: D & B Poker. Gainsbury, S. (2012). Internet gambling: Current research findings and implications. New York, N.Y: Springer. Harrison, D. R. (2000). Casino gambling: Your absolute, quintessential, all-you-wanted-to-know, complete guide. Hollywood, Fla: F. Fell. Ho?rnle, J., & Zammit, B. (2010). Cross-border online gambling law and policy. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Lim, Y. F. (2007). Cyberspace law: Commentaries and materials. South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press. Spapens, A. C., Littler, A., & Fijnaut, C. (2008). Crime, addiction and the regulation of gambling. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Read More