The US and Australia have faced off recently with a major concern over the Australian government’s decision to actively censor some websites though local ISPs and prevent access to a number of different online services – including any number of potential websites related to online gambling. The regulations as set out by the Australian government will allow a website or entire IP address hosting a website to be blocked by an ISP for any reason they determine to be potentially damaging to the public, with no official reason being declared for a website’s banning should customers wish to enquire as to why they can not view a particular site.

This has come as a major concern for many groups in both Australia and the US given the fact that it would effectively allow unquestionable control over any website content that the Australian government deems appropriate and prevent fair competition by internet companies worldwide. For those looking to gamble online this could especially be a problem as at any given moment a favorite gambling establishment could suddenly be made unavailable, thus potentially separating game goers from not only their online community but also their money in a moment’s notice.

Proponents for the censoring cite that many countries throughout Europe actively censor the internet to prevent the spreading of many illegal items such as child pornography, preventing socially unacceptable material from being spread online unchecked. The internet, they claim, is a valuable resource that can be used to easily share any amount of information in an instant with people in all corners of the earth, yet at the same time this level of freedom can also be dangerous should the wrong people use it for illicit means.

Opponents, on the other hand, argue that actively censoring the internet and any number of sites located on the web takes away the right of the consumer to choose get a full understanding of what is truly available out there – particularly if any website can be blocked at a moment’s notice with no reason given as to why the blocking occurs. Others say that it will generate a biased market in terms of e-commerce and online participation, limiting fair competition among users. Even still, some people feel that an active censoring program is the first step in developing a more active censoring program such as that found in China that led Google to pull out operations after refusing to continue censoring search engine results.

Online gaming companies have a particular vested interest in Australia’s censoring program due to the fact that they have commonly run into difficulties in many sectors when trying to deal with internet allowances due to their tenuous nature as a business to begin with. Should legislation work against them this could potentially mean an entire continent of users being cut off from access at any given moment, a major blow to any business operating on a multi-national basis.

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3. Canadian Provinces Going for Internet Gambling Instead Tobacco Use
4. Florida to Legalize Internet Poker
5. Saskatchewan Losing Millions of Dollars Because of Internet Gambling Restrictions