December 03, 2002
DRAFT

IGC RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING GUIDELINES


Responsible Gambling Principles:

· The Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) will develop and promote industry-wide policies, procedures and guidelines for responsible interactive gambling.
· The Responsible Gambling Guidelines will be posted on the sites of IGC members.
· The IGC will establish a Responsible Gambling Committee to facilitate the implementation and regular review of such material.
· IGC members shall not knowingly market their products and services to minors or to players who they suspect have a problem gambling disorder.

Problem Gambling Issues:

· To facilitate appropriate strategies, IGC members shall designate a person/s as responsible for advancing responsible gambling policies, including, but not limited to, seeking training for staff on adhering to their company-wide mission and strategies on responsible gambling from professionals whose area of expertise addresses prevention, identification, intervention and referral of problem gamblers to assistance programs. The Responsible Gambling Committee will provide assistance in identifying these professionals and programs and convey this information to IGC members. Where an IGC member out-sources customer interface services such as Internet call centres, the IGC member must ensure that such service providers properly train their own staff in these matters.
· To demonstrate support in providing help to problem gamblers, IGC members will provide a link to the IGC’s Helping Hand program (igcouncil.org), which includes, but is not limited to, "the 20 Questions of Gamblers Anonymous" and/or other problem gambling screening tools for their customers and their own use, taking due account of their customers’ ethnic and cultural differences.
· IGC members shall make every reasonable effort to identify problem gamblers. Members will address those with problems in a professional manner, including, but not limited to, making information and/or links available for problem gamblers, family members and concerned persons to guide them to supportive help lines, sites and general information. The Helping Hand program contains links for use on member websites.
· IGC members shall support reasonable betting limits in an attempt to mitigate problem gambling, including, where appropriate, a “cooling off period”. Additionally, when requested by a player, members will exclude the player.
· The Responsible Gambling Committee will work with IGC members to establish and refine techniques to discourage problem gambling.
· IGC members agree to adopt self-regulatory controls identified by the IGC, and/or agree to adhere to responsible gambling regulations / guidelines established in their respective licensing jurisdiction. In the case of conflict, the licensing jurisdiction takes precedence.
· IGC members are encouraged to make donations to organizations that provide assistance, programs and services to problem gamblers. The IGC will assist in identifying appropriate organizations upon the request of a member.
· IGC members shall provide the ability for a player to establish their own limitations and will abide by restrictions and limitations imposed by that player.
· IGC members agree not to extend credit to customers. Specifically, members cannot permit a player to wager where the funding of that wager comes from the operator other than through a promotion run by the operator.

Underage Gambling Issues:

· IGC members shall implement security measures to prevent access to gambling products (including player registration) by underage users, and shall post an age restriction notice on the home page.
· When made available, IGC member sites will utilize rating standards that provide for content registration (for example, PICS rating standards and Internet Content Rating Association, “ICRA” tool), and identify, and provide links to, blocking software for use by parents, in an effort to curtail access by underage users. The Responsible Gambling Committee will provide assistance in identifying technologies in this area, and how they can best be used.
· IGC members shall avoid advertising in media that predominantly caters to minors.

General Issues:

· IGC Members will actively promoting problem gambling awareness education.
· IGC Members will be vigilant of player accounts, in particular with respect to any negative credit experiences associated with a particular card or cardholder, including, but not limited to, fraudulent activity patterns and excessive credit card transaction chargebacks.
· IGC Members agrees to abide by an IGC endorsed Advertising Code of Practice.
· IGC Members will cooperate with accredited bodies that are attempting to perform research into problem gambling or underage gambling.
· IGC members who conduct interactive gambling, in conjunction with companies that develop games software, whether an IGC member or not, are to incorporate, at a minimum, the following features in their software: stringent registration and ongoing player verification processes, warnings about underage gambling, the ability to exclude players, the ability to block a class of player, the ability to establish bet and deposit limits, the ability to restrict the use of multiple accounts, the ability to provide players with a statement of their account activity, toll free numbers / links / live customer support, links to problem gambling service providers.

Interpretation:

· The Responsible Gambling Guidelines apply to those IGC members who conduct some form of interactive gambling.
· This document combines the terms pathological, compulsive and problem gambling under the generic phrase of problem gambling and addresses all forms of interactive gambling.
· For the purpose of this document the definition of problem gambling is that ascribed in the licensing jurisdiction of the respective operator.