Wednesday, January 28, 2009

What are the odds?

Gambling has always been frowned upon by law. It has been characterized as a social evil which drains the resources of an individual who gets addicted to it. And in the digital age, gambling has seen its greatest growth. Internet gambling has gradually been gaining infamy. PAGCOR has even set-up satellite shops which provide gamblers with access to the internet so that they may profit from this vice. But there is an upcoming craze that has not yet been realized: gambling thru text messaging.

A friend of mine (from one of the major telecoms) told me that he is handling one of their text-gambling promotions. I was a bit surprised that telecoms had even been allowed to peddle such a service.

In a country where mobile phones are readily accessible to minors, I pondered if there were any precautions to prevent children from availing of these gambling services. This problem, although not realized at the moment, is a question that I would want to address to the NTC, DTI and even Congress. All forms of gambling should be distanced from minors. Haphazard regulation is unacceptable. Limitations must be set. Otherwise, make sure your children will never own a cell phone.

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