Gambling with Laws and Ethics in Cyberspace

Abstract

The online world, referred to by some as cyberspace, offers a wide variety of activities: reading written content, interacting with others, engaging with multimedia and playing games of various kinds, and obtaining goods and services. However, many will ignore the written agreements and laws that govern these activities, and because of this, cyberspace can turn into a dangerous place. This chapter explores a small sample of legal and ethical issues that can arise in the interface between cyberspaces and real places for those not paying attention to such matters. The authors note how laws in the physical world remain applicable in the “virtual” world, requiring knowledge of jurisdiction, and discuss the potential for creating systems that protect the user from harm by embedding adherence to laws and providing support for ethics. The authors further explain how such embedding can work to address the complex legalities and potential need for intervention in addictive situations in online gambling.