July 11th, 2010
With New Hampshire’s recent announcement of a new set of online games that are an advancement, not an introduction, of state-run online gambling, discussion has ensued as to how these online games may be controlled. To play these games, one has to purchase a special lottery ticket in person, then go to the lottery website and enter the ticket number.
Fortunately, a report on PlayNoEvil actually looked past the usual debate and raised an interesting point that convenience stores may ultimately prove to be the most effective gateway to online gambling and skill games and online identity:
“…How are we going to solve online identity? Just stop by 7-11.
A number of years ago, I was involved in some discussions about age verification for online gambling. At that time, as with it is today, there are plenty of technology pushers around – trying to sell ID tokens, biometric systems, etc. etc. etc.
My answer was simpler – use convenience stores.
After all, these pervasive, local merchants are the gateway to adulthood.
They sell us alcohol, cigarettes, porn, and lottery tickets.
They are entrusted by the state to verify our identities and our ages.
It would seem New Hampshire has figured this out. The state is beginning to support online lottery games, but the sales are tied to the existing retail infrastructure as players need to go to a lottery retailer, buy a ticket with a unique number, and register online to play (and presumably reverse the process to cash out).
Simple and as secure as anything else anyone has proposed.
And only the beginning for online skill and gambling games.”
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 11th, 2010 at 12:48 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
