2 5 May 2003

News:

Leading national and international players from credit card processors, operators, legislators, regulators, payment system providers and advisors will attend the World Online Gambling Law Report Summer Retreat 2003 on 5-6 June at Tylney Hall in Hampshire, UK.

The Leach Bill, which aims to stop online gambling through making the use of financial instruments for gambling illegal, is set to win approval from the full Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives when it meets on May 14.

The UK Department of Culture Media and Sport has indicated that the Government will not ‘operate a black list’ of countries from where (UK regulated operators) are unable to accept customers’.

The DCMS Position Paper on The Future of Remote Gambling published at the end of April, makes plain that “Britain will not automatically accept extraterritoriality in this matter’ and that ‘it would be for the British Courts to determine whether to apply the findings of courts in other jurisdictions’.

Features:

The taxation and regulation of online betting exchanges has been the subject of intense lobbying. This year’s Budget saw the Chancellor resolve at least some of the contested issues.

In April, following an investigation into UK horse racing, the Office of Fair Trading (“the OFT”) published a summary of its findings that aspects of the orders and rules of horse racing in the UK were anti-competitive. Amongst the issues of concern to the OFT is the basis upon which UK horse racing data is controlled. The British Horse Racing Board (“the BHB”) and the Jockey Club - which between them control UK horse racing - have been given an opportunity to respond to the OFT’s preliminary findings and, by publishing its summary findings, the OFT is giving third parties an opportunity to make representations before it makes its final conclusions. This article examines the issues

The Isle of Man is considered a ‘tier one’ jurisdiction in relation to the promotion and regulation of online gaming. In achieving this exalted status at the infancy stage of a new online gambling industry it has placed the island, as never before, in the spotlight of media glare. However for the Isle of Man the licensing and regulating of online gambling operations is only the latest chronicle in a long line of being proactive within the gambling environment. This article traces the development of gambling regulation in the Isle of Man and its continued evolution with online gambling.

Advocate General Alber delivered on 13 March 2003 his Opinion in the long-awaited Gambelli case. Following the publication of the Opinion, some have indicated that the Gambelli case will break down the national gaming monopolies. I personally do not understand the fuss created over the Gambelli Opinion, as Alber’s opinion is merely a confirmation of the well-established case-law of the European Court of Justice (see the Court’s judgments in Schindler, Läärä and Zenatti). The Opinion certainly does not constitute a “Copernican revolution”, as suggested by certain adherents of a European gaming market, but could even result in more restrictive national gaming monopolies.

Interactive television (“iTV”) (and the revenues that can be gained from it) has never been more important to broadcasters. Despite the increasing popularity of internet-based services, television is still recognised as the single largest consumer market and the UK has experienced the most successful deployment of iTV and digital TV in the world. Around 9 million UK households have some form of digital television and with the deployment of digital TV actively being driven by the government, broadcasters and manufacturers, this is only going to increase, leading up to the anticipated digital switchover in 2006. The ITC recently reported that if current growth rates are sustained, digital TV take-up is on target to exceed internet penetration in the UK later this year. This article gives a brief overview of the legal, regulatory and commercial considerations that must be carefully examined when considering the launch of a gambling service via iTV.

The UK Department of Culture Media & Sport published its Position Paper on Remote Gambling at the end of April. The paper reaffirmed ‘the Government’s desire to see Britain become a world leader in the field of online gambling’ and that ‘flexibility will be the key to managing the development of a successful British based remote gambling industry’1. This article, the first of two on the Position Paper, will focus on the cross-border aspects of the UK Government’s proposals.