3 1 January 2004

News:

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has delayed plans to release new guidance on the complex issues involved in the regulation of emoney and premium SMS billing. The FSA had been planning to issue new guidance by the end of January.

On 16 January, the European Commission met a delegation from iGGBA, the interactive gaming gambling and betting association, in Brussels, to discuss recent developments concerning the eCommerce Directive and the proposed Services Directive. The meeting underlined growing concern within the Commission at the lack of harmonisation within the gambling sector.

The Legal Advisor to the Information Commissioner (IC), Nicholas Tyler, will be speaking at a half-day event in London, organised by e-commercelaw&policy, which will explain the new guidelines on Subject Access in the light of the December 8 Court of Appeal decision in the case of Michael John Durant v The Financial Services Authority.

Features:

In the first of a two part article, the contradictions and confusion of the current UK regulatory position on advertising are outlined. Next month’s article will consider what the new legislation is likely to bring to those wishing to advertise to UK customers.

Recent legal and regulatory developments in the European Community. indicate that a review of European gambling law could soon be a reality. This article argues that the private gambling industry needs to develop an effective European lobby if it is to be able influence the outcome of this review.

When acquiring a business, there are always a number of factors to take into consideration. However, when that business is an online betting or gaming business, what are the additional matters which you need to give special attention to?

On 8 December the Court of Appeal handed down its eagerly-awaited judgement in the case of Michael John Durant v the Financial Services Authority. The decision is one of the first significant judicial interpretations of the Data Protection Act 1998 and has important practical implications for all businesses holding information about individuals.

The first US federal law dealing with unsolicited e-mail marketing came into force on 1 January 2004. Despite being weaker than its European equivalent, the CAN-SPAM Act is a major step for the US legislator.

This article looks at the US legislation, its potentional impact on spam amd its implications for businesses operating in or targetting the US.

A number of recent proposals, if successful, will consolidate further the market for totalisator (or parimutuel) wagering services in Australia. Although not completed, the proposals to merge TAB Limited (“TAB”) with either of Tabcorp Holdings Limited (“Tabcorp”) or UNiTab Limited (“UNiTab”) respectively has received the support of the relevant State governments.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (“ACCC”), an independent Australian statutory authority responsible for competition matters generally, has also stated that it will not oppose the proposed mergers.1