AGA Launches Proposal for Online Gaming Reform

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has release a white paper making a long list of recommendations for streamlining online gaming regulations, with the aim of ensuring the industry maintains its integrity and keeps pace with evolving technologies

'Reform required to maintain integrity'

Entitled "Improving gaming regulation: 10 recommendations for streamlining processes while maintaining integrity," the paper proposes reforms to the online gaming industry at both a federal and state level which it says are required to keep up with the times.

The paper argues that because of increasing globalization, "regulatory practices that made good sense when first adopted can become outdated." It says outdated regulations can have negative effects such as diverting industry resources away from investment, wasting taxpayer dollars on misguided enforcement, and reducing the morale of regulators.

10 recommendations

As the title says, the paper makes 10 key recommendations, pinpointing reforms that it says will free regulators and licensees from processes that don't serve their goals. These reforms include extending license terms for at least five years, extending use of uniform license applications, removing unnecessary regulatory filings, and updating license procedures and practices.

The paper acknowledges that some of the recommendations require new gambling laws while others only need a change in practices. AGA President and CEO Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jnr. said the organization would share its white paper with regulators and lawmakers, saying: "The next step is education."