4 3 March 2005

News:

Investment banks are showing a sharp rise in interest in the remote gambling sector.

The fate of the UK Gambling Bill is still uncertain as parliamentary time is running perilously short before the expected May 5 election. Government officials remain confident that the Bill will make it through but there is still a danger that ‘events’ could push it to the side.

Ladbrokes, Betfair, Sportingbet, William Hill and Victor Chandler are pooling their efforts to fight a case launched by Real Madrid, in which the club claims substantial damages for what it claims is the unauthorised use of their name.

Features:

Online gaming is a huge and growing industry, with online poker currently leading the growth. Lately some forward-thinking U.S. leaders on a state level have recognized the enormous potential for regulating online gaming and are moving ahead with legislation to do just that. At the time of writing, many leaders of the interactive gaming industry are focused on the U.S. state of North Dakota, which has just defeated a BIll promoting the licensing, regulation and taxation of online poker. Frank Catania and Keith Furlong of the Catania Consulting Group examine the issues.

The recent judgment from the ECJ in the William Hill v BHB case has made all sides in the argument about the ownership and exploitation of sports data examine more closely the legal framework within which these rights are sold. Neil Baylis, a partner with Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP analyses one aspect which has so far escaped scrutiny: the implications of Competition Law for such sporting rights sales.

Although many stories surrounding internet crime are exaggerated, online gaming fraud remains a problem for the industry. In this article David Abbot, CEO Secure Trading Group, offers his views on minimising the problem

Almost three years after the implementation of the EU’s E-Money Directives, the European Commission has acknowledged that the regime has, in effect, been overtaken by developments in online payments not anticipated at the time of drafting. Claire Walker of Olswang considers the Commission’s call for light touch regulation and the significance of its new, non-binding, guidance on the application of the E-Money Directives to mobile operators.

Online gaming operators will not choose to come to the UK if the rate of gaming tax remains at 15 per cent is the conclusion of a Europe Economics Report commissioned by the Association of Remote Gambling Operators (ARGO). This article summarises the reports findings.