2 8 August 2003

News:

Stephen Hill, the former Financial Times Group CEO, who is the newly appointed CEO of Betfair, the market leading betting exchange, will be one of the key speakers at the Special Briefings on the regulation and taxation of online gambling which will take place in Long Beach, Southern California on Thursday 23 October and at Washington DC on Monday 27 October.

In the latest round of Congressional manoeuverings the Banking Committee passed on 31 July the Kyl Bill (S-627). In a five minute debate, the Committee accepted the Chairman’s amendments to the Bill and then voted unanimously to report the Bill to the Senate.

The Australian Betting Exchange Task Force in its July 10 report, rejected - with only the Northern Territories dissenting - the licensing of betting exchanges.

Features:

The attitude of the US government to online gambling, although generally perceived in Europe to be restrictive, is in reality less cohesive than is often believed. However, online gambling companies cannot afford to be complacent because the prohibition voice is a strong one. This is underpinned by the patchwork nature of the existing federal and state laws and the convoluted processes of creating new legislation. Most interested parties are familiar with the often cited federal laws utilised to support the US’s anti-online gambling stance (most prominently the Wire Act 18 §1084) and this article therefore focuses on how new laws are passed in the US and some of the anti-online gambling bills in the legislative pipeline; not least because there is a good deal that can be done by an anti-prohibition lobby.

On 15 July 2003 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (“DCMS”) published Clauses 1 to 56 of the draft Gambling Bill together with detailed explanatory notes, a summary of the policy background and a Foreword from the Secretary of State, Tessa Jowell. The draft Gambling Bill will, if implemented, give effect to the Government’s proposals for the reform of the law on gambling as set out in the Government White Paper “A Safe Bet for Success” which was published in March 2002. This article, the first of two, highlights some of the more interesting features of the draft Clauses published to date.

The ability to collect data on online gamblers can be a powerful marketing weapon. This article looks at the threats as well as the opportunities such profiling can pose.

Within the scope of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), internet gambling has up until now not been regarded as a major issue. The recent action taken by Antigua and Barbuda can change this dramatically.

The Australian Betting Exchange Task Force reported on July 10 their conclusions on the licencising of betting exchanges in Australia. This article examines the reports conclusions, which with the exception of the Northern Territories was broadly opposed to the licensing of betting exchanges.