Nothing shows that you hit the big leagues like a nice relaxing government fine for committing what politicians have decided is a “crime”. The business of avoiding pretend crimes can be humorous and only slightly annoying in the best case. Think those repetitive disclaimers about forward-looking statements CEOs have to make before presenting their company to investors. Or it can burden the entire global economy and lower the standard of living of the entire human race in the worst case.

888 last week joined this coveted group of companies forced to pay money to the UK Gambling Commission. Now the ruling class can look like they care even more about the downtrodden and maybe get another seat in whatever parliament or something.

Alright, so technically the “crime” was not doing enough to stop problem gamblers. Apparently one guy stole £55,000 from his employer so he could keep gambling. In a world run by objective law rather than law made up through political wrangling, everyone is responsible for their own behavior and this is not their direct responsibility. 888 probably does have a vested interest in keeping problematic gambling addicts away from their systems if only to avoid bad press and tarnishing their brand name. Most companies that intend on surviving long term have an interest in keeping PR liabilities out of their hair. There is no need for extra government protection in these cases, which just amounts to government looking for its slice of the loot.

Shell companies with no brand name and no long term plan looking to swindle people for as much as possible as quickly as possible and then pop out of existence like a quantum flux are a problem, but these companies have no brand recognition so anyone who falls for them would have lost their money some other way anyway. You can’t protect people from themselves indefinitely. If they want to be swindled, eventually they will be.