Will South African Ruling affect online casinos?
The news about a ruling in a case involving a South African casino may not be hitting CNN, but it does call for a bit of attention from the gambling world since it brings up the question of - just where is an online casino considered to be operating from. This is a question that resonates in the US because Antigua is disputing the shut down of gambling operations licensed from the island nation. According to Antigua, since gambling is legal where they operate and license the online casinos, the US has no right to shut down those casinos and declare the operations illegal. The US disagrees since the online casinos are in its view operating within the US.
It seems a very similar dispute has been playing out in South Africa. The online casino Piggs Peak had its servers in Swaziland, a small country almost entirely surrounded by South Africa, so Piggs Peak claimed that it did not fall under the jurisdiction of the South African National Gaming Board, which has outlawed online casinos in the country. But recently a South African judge ruled that the online casino operated where the player was located, not where the servers were located. Now, this ruling doesn’t apply to the US, but one can hardly expect a different ruling should it be called into question in the US.
Ironically, much like the US, South Africa doesn’t outlaw gambling altogether. In fact, it has some world class land based casinos that offer everything from family vacations with theme parks to gambling and safari excursions. South Africa wants the tourist money those casinos bring in, but not the local gambling that online casinos allow. Sound familiar?