4 4 April 2005

News:

Esquire, the self proclaimed ‘general-interest lifestyle magazine for sophisticated men’ has been the latest publication to pull advertising for remote gambling after pressure from the US Justice Department.

The UK Gambling Act, which received Royal Assent on 7 April, after last minute concessions to the Opposition reduced the number of land based regional casinos immediately permitted from eight to one, is adding to the growing pressure on European States to open up their markets to regulated remote gambling.

The City’s growing interest in the remote gambling sector is reflected in the number of City analysts who are attending the World Online Gambling Law Report Summer Retreat 2005 which takes place on May 19-20 at Tylney Hall in Hampshire.

Features:

They say a week is a long time in Politics (by the time you read this we will have a new Government) but in online gaming it’s an eternity. In the space of just 7 days last month we got the new Gambling Act 2005 (by a whisker) and the WTO ruling. Both are significant - but in different ways.

Both the United States and Antigua have claimed victory following the recent WTO Appellate Body Report on their dispute concerning the United States prohibition of remote gambling from other countries. Craig Pouncey, Managing Director of Herbert Smith, Brussels and Lode Van Den Hende, senior associate, who represented Antigua in the case examine the claims.

The Gambling Act received Royal Assent on 7 April. The final form of the Act, leaves much of the practical regulation of gambling to be decided by the Gambling Commission. Hilary Stewart-Jones analyses key elements of the Act amid their impact on remote gambling operators.

The UK’s Gambling Act 2005 will have a significant impact on offshore jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man and Alderney. Miles Benham, a partner with Miles Benham, looks at the potential issues arising for the Isle of Man.

The WTO decision and the UK Gambling Act are landmark events for the remote gambling world. Wes Himes, Director, iGGBA, looks at the practical affect these decisions will have in the immediate and in the longer term.

This Summer, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court will decide the future of the nation’s state monopoly on sports betting. In this article, Dr Wulf Hambach, German Attorney at Law, analyses the issues surrounding the case and its repercussions for the industry.