beyond pt 0 23/1

If Internet gambling grows to about $1 billion by 2003, one could
postulate that between 50 and 70 per cent would be diverted from
traditional channels.
External dimensions
There will be some leakage of gambling revenue overseas. This will
particularly be the case if new and proprietary gambling games are
devised by organisations with some integrity. The risks of online
gambling, particularly with offshore companies, is that there is no
assurance that the games are not rigged, nor is there redress if winnings
are not paid. However the very success of online gambling indicates that
providers are dealing with these problems
Because Australians are among the heaviest gamblers in the world, Australia
has a large and sophisticated gambling industry. It already attracts
significant overseas interest. It is likely that this will be continued online.
One of Australia’s most successful e-commerce ventures is Centrebet,
based in Alice Springs. Its turnover is $3 million a week, with a third
coming from overseas. In terms of visitors, 20 per cent are from Australia,
20 per cent from the US, 20 per cent from Scandinavia, 15 per cent from
Asia and 25 per cent from other countries. It receives between 20 000
and 100 000 hits a day.
Key points
Greater use of e-commerce in the media and entertainment sector is likely to result
in significant economic change. E-commerce will give the consumer greater choice
about what, where, when and where to consume. New distribution and recording
technologies will challenge traditional systems. Greater competition will also ensure
that cost savings will be passed on to consumers.
Businesses in this sector face some interesting challenges. The arrival of the Internet
as an explosive new medium has meant that media firms are forced to embrace the
new technologies that become available.
When looking at quantitative analysis of the sector the following impacts can be
identified that should be factored in:
– this sector has already seen some price reductions in key areas and more could
be achieved over time through disintermediation processes in retail and
wholesale margins in the sectors inputs;
– the sector is likely to purchase additional inputs of e-commerce related services
proportional to its savings in retail margins;
– reflecting the increased convenience of e-commerce transactions in this sector,
time savings should be included as an efficiency gain for other industries that
use the services of the sector as well as households; and
– many of the goods and services produced by this sector are susceptible to greater
international competition and could experience a significant boost in exports
from e-commerce.
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