3 11 November 2004

News:

The last month has been a rollercoaster ride for the remote gambling industry with Betfair stepping in to save the players funds of failed betting exchange Sporting Options, BetonSports share price dropping fifty per cent and Sportingbet announcing the purchase of Paradise Poker, the world’s third-largest poker site, for US $297.5m.

A spammer, who was claimed to rank in the top ten spammers in the world, was sentenced to nine years in prison by Loudon Circuit Court in Virginia on 3 November under a Viriginia law criminal statute.

World Online Gambling Law Report is organising a half-day Emergency Briefing on Thursday 27 January in London, in association with leading City law firm Nicholson Graham & Jones, focusing on the significance of the European Court of Justice decision in BHB v William Hill for both database rights holders and rights users.

Features:

In June 2003, Antigua and Barbuda complained to the WTO that US prohibitions against internet gambling were discriminatory and in breach of international trade agreements that require the US to allow foreign internet companies to offer their services to US citizens.

In September’s edition of World Online Gambling Law Report, Carl Rohsler of Hammonds wrote about the uncertainty which currently exists in relation to the classification of certain sorts of quiz or contest as either a skill based competition or free prize draw. Since then, of course, we have seen the publication of the latest draft of the Gambling Bill, which differs in several important respects from the one published in November 2003. In this article, Carl looks at the issue again, to see whether the new draft of the Bill makes things clearer or more confusing for current operators, and whether it may point them in a new direction.

The European Court of Justice decision in BHB v William Hill delighted bookmakers but shocked database owners both in the sporting arena and elsewhere.Mark Prinsley, from Mayer Brown Rowe and Maw, analyses the case and its implications.

Underage gambling and social responsibility are placed at the heart of the Gambling Bill. The Department of Culture Media and Sport has emphasised that the Bill is focussed on protecting the vulnerable. Michael Smeaton, the online gambling specialist for gambling charity GamCare, explores the issues and looks to the future shape of the codes of conduct.

Sporting Options, the UK betting exchange, has gone bust owing customers over £3.5 million. While exchanges are required to comply with normal audit requirements, there is no ring-fencing requirement. In this article, the authors argue that the issues are not limited to betting exchanges and call for better regulation under the Gambling Bill.

The election of a new Congress means another round of lobbying; in the Courts the Casino City case moves slowly forward, while the WTO case causes ripples in the Midwest. Rick Smith, Executive Director, and Keith Furlong, Deputy Director of the Interactive Gaming Council report on the latest from the United States.

After the collapse of Sporting Options, we asked Wes Hymes of iGGBA how this could have happened, and for his thoughts on the implications for the online gambling industry.