Apple Has Removed Gambling Apps from the Australian Apps Store Is Apple Now the Gambling Police?

Added: July 19, 2013

The online gambling situation in Australia is a little strange. Basically, the Interactive Gambling Act that was passed by the Australian Government way back in 2001 states that it is illegal for an Australian based company to offer online gambling and online casino services within the country. The Act also prohibits offshore companies from offering online casino play to local residents. However, the Interactive Gambling Act does not state that it is illegal for a resident of Australia to be involved in their private only gambling endeavors, or to play at an online casino.

Now, this all sounds pretty clear cut doesn’t it? But it would seem that no, it isn’t. Some time back, the Australian Government took a look at the Apple App Store, and found a few apps that were geared towards online gambling. The apps themselves do not offer online gambling, they are simply pieces of software, just like Microsoft Windows or whatever your chosen web browser happens to be.

However, due to the pressure placed on the company by the Australian Government, Apple has removed the app from the Australian version of the Apple App Store. This included two apps by major online gambling companies, PokerStars and 888.

We question the validity of this move, why should Apple get involved with the legal position on online gambling in Australia? Apple was not in contravention of the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001 itself, so why did it feel it needed to take this route?

Meanwhile, thousands of online casino sites still offer online gambling services to people in Australia, these online casino sites can be accessed by any desktop computer, laptop, smart phone or tablet device that has a web browser installed. We don’t see the manufacturers of these products being bullied by the Australian Government in the same way though do we? It would be an impossible feat to accomplish.

We think that Apple should have simply said no, they were nor breaking the law, or doing anything that was in contravention of the Interactive Gambling Act. But Apple being Apple, they want to maintain their squeaky clean image we suspect. The result of this is that Australian citizens, who want to use these mobile apps to access an online casino, and that would not be breaking the law in doing so, have now been denied them.