Australia's first cyber casino - AusVegas - will turn out the lights within days following the Federal Government's move to curb the online gambling industry.

When the government's Interactive Gambling (Moratorium) Bill comes into effect within the next couple of weeks, online gambling operators will have to fall in line with what has been deemed "wide reaching and very comprehensive legislation," by one industry analyst.

The 12-month moratorium on new online gambling licenses and services became effective as of May 19.

GoCorp, which acquired an interactive gambling license from the Queensland government in June 1999, has been paying gaming taxes since May 13, 2000 and operating its online casino, AusVegas, since May 16, should effectively have dodged the government's bullet.

However, the Queensland operator has announced that it's "untenable to continue" its operations in present form under the new legislation.

"Reading between the lines the government has included something [in the legislation] that affects everyone," an industry analyst said.

"Every online operation [in Australia] has been affected by this. The spirit seems to be to kill the online [gambling] industry," the analyst added. "In one fell swoop Government legislation will kill off an industry."

The office for the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Alston, refused to comment on the individual circumstances of online gambling operators.

"The Australian Parliament has seen fit to put in place a 12-month moratorium while the government reviews the feasibility and consequences of a full ban [on online gambling]," a spokesperson for Senator Alston said.

"Anyone operating before prior to May 19 will not be affected [by the Bill]," the spokesperson insisted.

However, the short life of AusVegas will be extinguished "very soon," a GoCorp spokesperson said - its lights were officially switched on May 31.

GoCorp claims to have pumped AU$30 million into its online gambling den, including AU$10 million into its Gold Coast-based data centre.

Uncertainty in the industry due to the Moratorium, which was originally tabled in September, has seen 50 percent of GoCorp's staff lose their jobs - a headcount of about 35 workers.

What lies in store for the rest of the company's employees depends on GoCorp's next steps, which aren't expected to be announced until January.

Gocorp, Australia's only casino to operate solely via the Internet, claims to be in "negotiations, not just discussions" with other parties and perceives its options as being "quite broad - not just gaming".

"The company could metamorphosise into something else," the industry analyst said.

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