2 6 June 2003

News:

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

MGM Mirage’s decision to withdraw from the online market has underlined the difficulties that face top tier regulators and blue chip companies in balancing regulation with commercial viability if bets from the world’s largest online gambling market, the US, are excluded.

UK legislation to reform the gambling industry and to regulate online gambling has been put back ‘12 months at the most’ because of legislative congestion in Parliament according to Richard Caborn, the UK Sports Minister.

Features:

Following the outcome of the De Lotto/Ladbrokes case in the Netherlands, and the more recent case brought in the Dutch courts against Paramount in Curacao, the question arises as to whether judgments of this type would be enforceable in a UK court should a party either decide not to submit to the jurisdiction, or the judgment is obtained outside the EU.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is meeting on the 16-20 June and expects to publish the revised anti-money laundering rules around that time.This article focuses on the consultation paper which was issued by FATF as part of the review process and looks at the likely revisions to the recommendations insofar as they relate to online gaming.

The Italian online gambling market is set to grow sharply. This article looks at the current state of the market, the impact of the Gambelli case and the chances of legislative reform.

The closure of MGM Mirage has underlined the impact of the continuing US hostility to regulated online gambling. This article looks at the reasons behind the MGM Mirage decision and the latest developments in Congress.

Almost a month after Advocate General Alber concluded in the Gambelli case that the Italian legislation on sports betting was infringing article 49 of the EC Treaty1, the Advocate General Stix-Hackl defended a similar thesis2.

In April 2003 the Australian Government’s Department for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts announced that it was launching a review of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. The Act prohibited a person from providing an ‘interactive gambling service’ to persons located in Australia and to certain ‘designated countries’. The IGA does not cover the Internet application of traditional forms of gambling, such as sports betting, wagering and lotteries. This article looks at the responses to the consultation.