Volume: 15 Issue: 12
(December 2016)

News

Sarah Harrison, Chief Executive of the British Gambling Commission, has encouraged the gambling sector to quicken the pace of change when it comes to boosting standards, in a speech at a conference in Birmingham, which took place on 8 November 2016 and which centred on raising standards. / read more

The UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (‘DCMS’) opened a Consultation on its proposed update to Schedule 6 of the Gambling Act 2005, on 9 November 2016, to better reflect the bodies with which the Gambling Commission (‘GC’) regularly shares information relating to possible betting-related corruption, namely enforcement and regulatory bodies and sports governing bodies (‘SGBs’) . Schedule 6 was last amended in 2012. / read more

Features

Carl A. Rohsler, Partner at Squire Patton Boggs and member of the Online Gambling Lawyer Editorial Board, first addressed the impact of Brexit - the UK’s decision by referendum to leave the European Union - on the gambling sector in a July 2016 article providing an overview of the implications. In this follow-up article, Carl addresses IP issues specifically, and considers how areas such as copyright and operator trade marks will be affected by Brexit. / read more

Following their annual conference in late October 2016, the Prime Ministers of the German states announced that the German Interstate Treaty on Gambling is to be amended, and on 9 November these changes were notified to the European Commission. The changes anticipated by the German states are hardly a major overhaul of the German gambling market but rather a ‘minimalist reform,’ which is how some of the Prime Ministers describe the changes. Dr Joerg Hofmann and Dr Matthias Spitz of Melchers Law provide their thoughts on the amendments. / read more

The long-anticipated Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016 (‘Bill’) was introduced into the Australian Federal Parliament on 10 November 2016. The Bill will amend the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (‘IGA’) to reflect the Government’s response to the recommendations set out in the 2015 Review of the Impact of Illegal Offshore Wagering (‘Review’). The principal amendments to the IGA proposed in the Bill appear to send a very clear message - only those who are licensed in Australia can offer products to Australians, as Tony Rein and Sarah Kaylinger of Thomson Geer explain. / read more

Legislative reform of the Dutch gambling market is slowly but surely moving forwards. On 4 November 2016 the Dutch Senate published its input on the country’s draft Remote Gambling Bill (‘Bill’), a document which poses a number of questions. On 25 October 2016 meanwhile, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in a case involving a player’s complaint against Unibet, finding that the offering of games of chance via the internet whilst lacking a local licence was not socially undesirable, illegal or punishable. Dr Alan Littler and Jellien Roelofs of Kalff Katz & Franssen discuss the implications of both developments. / read more

On 28 September 2016, two Singapore operators - Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club - were granted exemptions under Singapore’s Remote Gambling Act 2014 to operate online gambling services in Singapore, with both operators having now commenced such operations. Lau Kok Keng and Chia T-Chien of Rajah & Tann LLP look at the circumstances in which these exemptions were granted, the reaction to the exemptions within Singapore, and what the future holds for online gambling in Singapore. / read more

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (‘ICO’) is conducting an investigation into operators’ use of consumers’ personal data and in regard to the sending of marketing material. The investigation speaks of a need for operators to consider their relationships with third party affiliates and marketing service providers to ensure their practices in this area are legally compliant. Patrick Rennie of Wiggin LLP examines the relevant legislation and what operators should bear in mind when using affiliates and third party marketing providers. / read more

About Online Gambling Lawyer

The monthly publication exploring legal issues affecting operators in online gambling and gaming, on a global basis. Topics covered included licensing, offshore operators, mobile gaming, gambling payments, fixture lists and database rights, online poker, social gaming and gambling, online liquidity, advertising, sports betting, in-play betting, eSports, fantasy sports (DFS), Bitcoin gambling, and gambling fraud, as well as in-depth discussion of legislation such as the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive and the US Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA)... / read more