1 8 November 2002

News:

The Global Gambling Guidance Group, G4, has been launched to create an accreditation programme that will set the international benchmark for responsible gambling. G4 has been created by experts from the Netherlands, the UK, Australia and Sweden. Accreditation standards will include, ethical business practices, information systems for staff and players, staff training, intervention on underage gambling and referrals for help and counselling.

White House backing for the Leach Bill, which passed the US House of Representatives in October, is unlikely to result in the Bill passing the Senate this year. The Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, Lawrence B. Lindsey wrote to Senate Majority Leader, Senator Tom Daschle on October 28 expressing the Administration’s opposition to ‘illegal internet gambling’ and urging him to ‘consider this legislation before the year is out and put an end to this criminal activity’.

Key industry figures, including regulators, business operators, online payment providers and professional advisors will be meeting in London on 20 November at the Special Briefing on Money Laundering and Payment Systems in Online Gambling organised by World Online Gambling Law Report.

Features:

In a world where gambling licences specify from which countries you cannot accept bets, knowing the location of your online punter is essential. The acquisition and use of such location data is itself subject to a growing body of legislation and regulation. This article looks at the measures necessary to comply with the demands of the regulators.

In the last edition, the benefits of performing detailed testing over simple outcome-based testing in relation to Random Number Generators (RNGs) were examined. Here, aspects of an Internet Gaming System (IGS) other than the RNGs are addressed.

The significant volume of net-related patent disputes which have arisen over the last few years is showing no sign of abating. The Menashe claim against William Hill in the UK courts is the prime recent example in the online gambling world (Menashe Business Mercantile Ltd and Julian Menashe v William Hill Organisation Ltd [2002] EWHC 397). Other disputes, such as Amazon.com’s long-running ‘one-click’ row with rival Barnes & Noble, eBay’s quarrel with MercExchange over four online auction patents, and PayPal’s recent run-in with First USA Bank over patents covering a cardless payment system, show that even the established players are not immune.

The conjunction this year of the Menashe case and a Commission Proposal for a new Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions should prompt internet gambling operators to (re)assess the significance of patents and patent law to their businesses. This article looks at the risks software patents bring and at the opportunities patent protection presents, focusing on Europe in general and the UK in particular.

The Leach Bill looks unlikely to go through the US Congress this year. Nevertheless following the recent US elections, similar legislation is likely to be presented. In this article Ronald Maginley, Antigua and Barbuda’s Director of Offshore Gaming, puts the case against such legislation.

During the past three years, Panama has been drafting regulations for ‘Games of Chance and Activities Generating Wagers performed through Electronic Communication Gambling Systems’. The Panama Gaming Control Board is expected to sign into law the now approved final draft of its network gaming regulations by November of this year. Covering some 25 pages of compliancy articles, Panama aims to compete with other fully regulated jurisdictions, such as the Isle of Man.