1 7 October 2002

News:

MGM Mirage, the US casino operator, has set a launch date of 17 October for its Isle of Man-based online casino. MGM Mirage is the first US operator to go live and its fortunes will be watched closely by others in the industry. US regulators will be paying close attention to see that MGM Mirage does not accept bets from US citizens.

Industry leaders have expressed their concern at the US House of Representatives voice vote in favour of legislation, known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act (H.R. 556), sponsored by Congressman Jim Leach (Iowa) to prohibit financial instruments for illegal internet gaming.

The US Department of Justice will spell out the US government’s attitude to money laundering and payment systems in online gambling at a Special Briefing organised by World Online Gambling Law Report on 20 November at the Café Royal in London.

Features:

Some of the largest names in the casino industry from the US are taking a closer look at internet gaming, following the lead of global competitors. This article look at the progress of US operators as they carefully tread their path through a regulatory and legislative maze.

The internet gaming marketplace is going through profound changes. Established land-based operators are going online, while a growing number of jurisdictions are developing strong regulatory frameworks to supervise these companies. This article looks at the evolving marketplace from the standpoint of an internet gaming supplier and argues that the days of the ‘Wild West’ in internet gaming are numbered and that the industry will move to an intra-border regulatory model, emulating the terrestrial regulatory environment.

Much has been written in recent months cataloguing the increasingly restrictive practices of MasterCard and Visa regarding the use of their cards for online gaming. A lot of ink has also been spilt over the recent propensity of US federal and state prosecutors to enforce laws prohibiting gambling, effectively curtailing the ability of the online gambling industry to access their largest market. Most of the commentators either mischaracterise the basis of the card systems’ policies, thereby failing to predict accurately the continued utility of those systems for the gaming industry, or decry the pseudo-moralistic tone of US laws as out-of-step with and frustrating cross-border, internet-based business.

The need for independent testing and certification in an interactive gaming environment is becoming universally accepted. It is important to both players and operators that the games are ‘fair, secure and auditable’. Demonstrated integrity through adequate independent testing goes to the heart of what constitutes credibility in a regulated environment. However, while everyone can agree on the need for testing, there is wide variation in the nature and extent of testing that is actually performed. In the first of two articles John Cargnello, CEO and founder of Technical Systems Testing (TST), argues the case for rigorous testing.

This article examines whether gaming is being ‘dressed up’ as fixed odds betting. Casino and bingo-style games are being made available online (including on interactive television) when it is not possible to obtain a licence to provide online casinos and bingo in this country. We also examine the Government’s view that Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (‘FOBTs’) have many of the characteristics which justify controls over gaming machines and should be subject to the same restrictions on numbers and prizes.

This article sets out the current state of regulation in Vanuatu, a sovereign nation in the South Pacific, which has based its regulatory structure on the Australian model.