Japan Asks Foreign Govts to Help Stop Online Casino Services; Govt Moves to Tackle Addition Epidemic
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The National Police Agency in Tokyo
Japan has been asking the governments of seven countries to stop online casinos operating within their jurisdictions from providing services to Japan, according to sources.
It is illegal to use online casinos in Japan, even when the casinos are legal in the countries from which they operate. With the move, the Japanese government aims to prevent people in the country from using the casinos.
The National Police Agency has been making the requests to the governments, which provide permits to the operators of the online casinos, through the Foreign Ministry since May. The governments on the receiving end of the requests are those of the Dutch territory Curacao in the Caribbean Sea, Costa Rica in Central America, Canada, the British territories of Gibraltar and the Isle of Man, Anjouan (The Union of the Comoros, Africa) and Europe's Malta and Georgia.
These countries and regions have granted licenses to online casino operators offering services to people in Japan. According to a survey by the agency, of the 40 online casinos operated overseas and available in Japanese, 70% obtained their licenses in Curacao.
A Japanese government official said that the agency anticipates that the governments will use such measures as shutting the sites down or using 'geo-blocking,' which denies connections from certain countries. The government also requested that Japanese-language content and services be stopped and that the sites clearly state that using them in Japan is illegal.
Since it is difficult in Japan to crack down on sites that are legal overseas, the agency will work with the governments concerned to encourage the operators to suspend their services to Japan. However, it is unclear whether the operators will comply.
The agency estimates that about 3.37 million people in Japan have used online casinos in violation of the law, with annual bets totaling about ¥1.2 trillion. Amid a sharp increase in such cases and a serious addiction epidemic, the government has begun a full-scale study of countermeasures.
In April, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry established an expert panel to discuss measures to deter the use of online casinos. It is now considering blocking the sites, which would forcibly prevent access to them, among other measures.
An amendment to the basic law on countermeasures against gambling addiction, currently under discussion in the Diet, includes measures to prevent operators from offering online casino services to people in Japan. If enacted, the amendment is expected to provide grounds for Japan to urge foreign governments to help suspend online casino services to the country.
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