Ethics in online gambling

Society disapproves of gambling because of the ways it can affect and destroy families, yet it is no secret that, it is possible and probably legal to gamble online yet for a small developer looking to operate an online gambling business, the requirements for legally running his/her business can be quite discouraging. To most non-experts, the laws are unclear when it comes to the lawfulness of gambling in general and online gambling in particular, the general belief is that it is illegal for privately owned businesses to run and operate an online gambling website. Anonymity is often assumed on the internet, even though real human subjects are involved. After last week's class on research ethics, I came to realize the very many ethical dimensions that would need to be considered when framing my research around the operation of an online gambling business such as, the necessity for obtaining the free and informed consent of participants when conducting research and also, issues such as preserving the privacy and confidentiality of their contributions.