gummed by a mouton sauvage

The weakness of co-regulatory schemes in Australia (characterised, alas, on occasion, by regulatory capture) is evident in enforcement of corporate misbehaviour that resembles being gummed by a toothless, arthritic and myopic sheep.

The Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA), the national broadcasting and telecommunications regulator highlighted elsewhere in this blog, yesterday announced that two of the commercial tv networks had "breached licence conditions by advertising interactive gambling services" -

a number of Nine Network and Ten Networks’ licensees breached a condition of their commercial television broadcasting licences by broadcasting advertisements promoting interactive gambling services, in contravention of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA).

"These are the ACMA's first investigations into advertisements prohibited under the Interactive Gambling Act", said ACMA Chairman, Mr Chris Chapman, "All providers of television, radio and datacasting services need to ensure sure they are fully aware of and comply with their obligations under the IGA".

The statute is not, as far as I am aware, invisible, so we might wonder why the licensees were not "fully aware" ... or perhaps just didn't care. ACMA's reports are online; one example is the PDF here.

The ACMA statement explains that -

'Interactive gambling services' include services that are often described as 'online casinos' and usually involve using the internet to play games of chance, or games of mixed chance and skill. Examples include roulette, poker, craps, online 'pokies' and blackjack. The IGA targets the providers of interactive gambling services and makes it an offence to provide certain services to a customer in Australia. It also prohibits the broadcasting and publication of advertisements for interactive gambling services.

Enter the ACMA sheep, red in tooth & claw!

ACMA adopts a graduated approach to compliance and enforcement and has taken into account that these are the first investigations relating to the broadcast of prohibited advertisements under the IGA. Both networks have agreed to measures intended to increase awareness of the IGA, including staff training and education. In this regard, the networks will provide periodic reports of this training to the ACMA.

Gambling is not illegal, something highlighted in a speech by Cardinal Pell, representative of an institution that critics such as Geoffrey Robertson QC persuasively argue has been systematically indifferent to a range of serious abuses and that, at best, can be excused on the basis of a profound lack of imagination.

The Cardinal is reported by the SMH as indicating that -

it might be somewhat hypocritical for the Catholic Church to condemn gambling outright, given the proliferation of poker machines in NSW Catholic clubs.

"I must confess I do feel a bit uneasy about that, but only a bit uneasy", he admitted. "Because culturally I'm an Irish Australian and we grew up gambling".

The Irish Australian Excuse does not, of course, apply to the wickedness known as same-sex love.

Cardinal Pell is reported as elaborating his statement -

Gambling in itself was not intrinsically wrong, he said. Only when it became an addiction, threatening the well-being of oneself and one's family, did it become a sin.

Warming to the forum's theme "God and Mammon: need or greed in the big end of town", Cardinal Pell said as far as the ethics of selling tobacco went, supplying adults who were aware of the risks and still chose to smoke was nothing to rush to the confessional about. And when quizzed about the ethics of selling arms, he hypothesised that global military contractors may in fact be acting on a moral imperative.

Andrew Undershaft, come on down!

ACMA has concurrently has directed mobile premium service providers AO Australia Online Pty Ltd (Australia Online) and Network Nine Australia Pty Ltd (Nine) to comply with industry rules or face hefty penalties in the Federal Court, after it found both companies breached the Mobile Premium Services Code (the code). More unawareness?

ACMA found that Nine breached the code by failing to advise of a helpline in
advertising two premium SMS competitions, Keno Million Dollar Comp and Moccona Competition.

ACMA's research shows that premium SMS competitions are popular with consumers, and the code requires that consumers be given information about who to contact if they have questions about a service', said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman.

Australia Online breached numerous provisions of the code, including failing to advertise the correct price and failing to state that the service was a subscription service. 'Providing clear and accurate information about the price, terms and conditions of a service is fundamental to doing business', said Mr Chapman. 'The ACMA will continue to pursue service providers who are not upfront with consumers about costs.'

The service providers will presumably continue to shake and shiver when the ACMA sheep growls, consoled of course by their revenue reports.

Complaints about premium SMS fell 90 per cent between September 2008 and September 2010, due to the code and other regulations put in place by the ACMA. While a direction to comply is the strongest action available to the ACMA in response to a breach of the code, the ACMA may request the Federal Court to impose penalties of up to $250,000 if a direction to comply is contravened.

From 3 November 2010, if a premium SMS provider does not comply with the code and causes significant detriment to consumers as a result, the ACMA also will be able to direct mobile phone companies to not charge consumers for the service in question.