Full Description
This book approaches 'gambling-like elements' such as lootboxes and social casino games from a children's rights perspective, focusing on the applicable existing legal framework and providing recommendations for future regulation. Analysed legal domains include gambling regulation, consumer protection and data protection regulation, and videogame industry self-regulation. An interdisciplinary approach serves as the foundation of the text; insights from non-legal disciplines such as psychology and media studies are integrated into the legal analysis.
The book is aimed at readers with different levels of prior knowledge and experience regarding the topic, by providing both step-by-step explanations of videogame-related concepts and in-depth legal discussions within the various legal domains at different levels. It examines the recent evolution where children are increasingly engaging with a changing videogame environment where the lines between videogames and gambling are blurred. By adopting a children's rights perspective, the book aims to add a fresh perspective to the legal debate related to the interacting worlds of videogames and gambling. As the book was written based on the doctoral research of the author, one especially relevant aspect of the book is the inclusion of recommendations and wider suggestions directed at a variety of stakeholders in the field, ranging from policymakers at different levels, to industry representatives, legal scholars, parents and carers.
Pieterjan Declerck is a Doctor in Law and is affiliated to the Department of Law and Technology at the Faculty of Law and Criminology at Ghent University in Belgium.
Contents
Introduction.- Part I. Children and the Convergence of Videogaming and Gambling.- Key Concepts and Recent Evolutions in the Videogame Environment.- The Regulatory Framework Applicable to Gambling-like Elements in Videogames.- Part II. Assessing the Regulatory Framework Applicable to Gambling-like Elements in Videogames.- Lootboxes and Random Reward Mechanisms.- Social Casino Games.- Assessment of the Regulatory Framework Applicable to Gambling-like Elements in Videogames.- Part III. Developing a Future-proof Regulatory Framework to Address Gambling-like Elements Which Realises Children's Rights.- Children's Rights and Their Role in Regulating Gambling-like Elements in Videogames.- Constructing a Future-proof Regulatory Framework for Gambling-like Elements Which Realises Children's Rights.- Conclusions.- Table of Cases.- Index.
