5 4 April 2006

News:

The United States declaration that it is in `compliance with the recommendations and rulings of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB)' in its dispute with Antigua & Barbuda has been dismissed by Antigua's legal counsel, Mark Mendel, of El Paso based Mendel Blumenfield, as "containing nothing new".

Ten sporting bodies have signed up to a 10-point Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) initiative designed to tackle sports betting cheats. The 10-point Code of Practice was launched at an Integrity in Sports Betting conference, sponsored by the Tote and Betfair, at Twickenham Stadium this month.

World Online Gambling Law Report is organising a one day US Online Gambling Regulation Briefing on Thursday 15 June in New York.

Features:

The United States claim to compliance with the WTO Dispute Panel Body's ruling in its dispute with Antigua & Barbuda certainly has the merit of simplicity.

With the controversial provisions of Italy's Finance Act recently coming into force, Thibault Verbiest Founding Partner of ULYS Law Firm, explains why, in his view, the law is unlikely to be upheld by the EU.

The UK Gambling Commission has recently published a draft consultation outlining its proposals for regulating commercial gambling, with industry responses due by 2 June. Carl Rohsler and Shannon Yavorsky of Hammonds examine the guidance and its implications for the online industry

Online gambling companies are continuing to seek more effective and inventive ways to promote their brands and appear willing to allocate significant monies in order to do so. In recent months there have been a number of high-profile deals where gambling operators have sought to obtain exposure via sport. Luisa Hoffman, a solicitor with Olswang, considers the opportunities open to operators, and also some of the issues arising in connection with such activities.

The Czech Finance Ministry plans to introduce regulations that could enable online odds betting in the Czech Republic ahead of football's World Cup in June. Pavla Prikrylová and Eva Adamcová of Peterka & Partners look at the reasons why the Government is considering a change.

Russia currently has no federal law regulating gambling, however a federal bill is set to receive its second reading in the Russian Parliament with the possibility that it could become law before 1 July of this year. Lana Haworth, a nonpractising barrister currently working for Berwin Leighton Paisner, examines the proposed bill's provisions.

There has been confusion over how a recent German Federal Constitutional Court decision will impact the future of sports betting in Germany. Attorneys at law, Dr. Wulf Hambach and Dr. Hendrik Schöttle of Hambach & Hambach, examine what the decision will mean for state betting provider Oddset and for the online sports gambling industry.