The online sale of lottery tickets has been banned from Jan. 2 by a circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the General Administration of Sports. Telecommunications regulators will punish those caught selling tickets online and violators could face prosecution.

Wang Xuehong, head of Peking University’s research institute of the lottery, said online sales of lottery tickets pose many problems because it is difficult for buyers to distinguish legal websites from illegal ones, and it’s impossible to know whether a website will actually buy lottery tickets for people after they hand over their money.

Private operators have been caught masquerading as State-run lotteries on the Internet and some websites have provided illegal channels for gambling on sports and the underground Mark Six.

Some 363 billion yuan ($49 billion) worth of lottery tickets were sold in 2006. (AsiaOne)