Online Gambling: UK WhiteList Extends To Tasmania
The UK WhiteList, as it has become known, defines what jurisdictions can and cannot legally advertising online gambling operations in the UK. Newly added to the list is the jurisdiction of Tasmania, located 240 kilometers south east of the Australian coast, 2,000 kilometers north of Antarctica.
As of January 31, 2008, online gambling operations - online poker rooms, online casinos, online sportsbook operators, online bingo, etc. - located and licensed in Tasmania will be able to legally advertise their services to the United Kingdom. However, in the same stroke, the UK government has turned down an application from the online gambling licensers in Antigua and the Kahnawake Territory of Canada.
Both Kahnawake and Antigua license a large portion of the online gambling industry's biggest competitors, therefore being turned down for a position on the UK WhiteList is a major blow to both jurisdictions.
The UK WhiteList was first issued in August of 2007, containing only two jurisdictions allowed to legally advertising in or to the UK - the Isle of Man and Alderney. Since then a few other jurisdictions have been added to the WhiteList.
On the UK WhiteList are: Alderney, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Tasmania (effective after Jan. 31, 2008), and all countries that make up the EU (European Union) and EEA (European Economic Area).
Major online gambling licensing countries that did not make the UK WhiteList thus far include: Antigua, Belize, Costa Rica, Curacao and Kahnawake.