Online Casino News and Information

PC WORLD
Grant Gross, IDG News Service
16/11/2006 06:48:17

Twenty-seven people and three corporations face charges related to operating an illegal online gambling operation in indictments announced Wednesday by the Queens District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Police Department.

The defendants operated a “highly sophisticated” gambling operation that booked more than US$3.3 billion in wagers over 28 months, the law enforcement authorities said. The operation placed bets on a number of sporting events, including horse racing, football, baseball, hockey and professional tennis, according to a press release from Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.

The case is the first time Internet gambling charges have been brought against anyone in the U.S. since President George Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act into law last month. The new law prohibits financial institutions from approving charges related to Internet gambling.

“Internet gambling is a multibillion dollar worldwide industry that for too long has operated with impunity,” Brown said in a statement.

Brown accused the operation of being “proficient in the art of secreting and laundering untold millions of dollars … through casinos, shell corporations, and bank accounts in a variety of locations around the globe.”

A 33-count indictment filed in Queens County Supreme Court charges the defendants ran gambling collection rooms in Miami and St. Maarten. Twenty of the defendants are also being sued in a civil case, Brown’s office said in the press release.

Among those facing charges are Primary Development Inc. and its Chief Executive Officer Maurice Freeman, accused of developing a sports betting Web site called Playwithal.com. Also indicted were Prolexic Technologies Inc., accused of providing security for Playwithal’s servers, and Digital Solutions SA of Costa Rica and its U.S. counterpart D.S. Networks SA Inc., which allegedly provided the gambling site with servers, data and software.

The indictment accuses James W. Giordano of Pine Crest, Florida, of being the boss of the enterprise. Three of his family members also face charges, as do five men who allegedly worked as money collectors, and other people who performed various duties for the gambling operation.

READ THE ARTICLE AT PC WORLD

BUSINESS WIRE

LONDON & SAN MATEO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ScanSafe, the leading global provider of Web Security-as-a-Service, today released its latest Global Threat Report on Web and instant messaging (IM), spyware and Web viruses. Among the report’s key findings, the company saw a 40 percent increase in U.S.-based requests for gambling-related Web pages, despite the fact that on October 13, 2006 President Bush signed the “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act” into law. The company also said that spyware increased for the second consecutive month as the online holiday shopping season gets underway.

The ScanSafe Global Threat Report is based on real-time analysis of more than five billion Web requests and more than 10 million Web threats processed by the company in October and is the largest analysis of Web security threats based on real-world traffic.

“Given the recent U.S. legislation, we had anticipated a drop in visits to gambling sites,” said Dan Nadir, vice president, product strategy, ScanSafe. “However, we actually saw an increase in Web requests from the U.S. for online gambling sites.”

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act prohibits U.S. banks and other brokers from transferring funds to Internet gambling sites. The Act was signed following the arrests in the U.S. of several online gambling executives, including the CEO of BetonSports, a company publicly traded in the U.K. The law requires federal regulators to come up with regulations to identify and block money transactions to gambling sites within 270 days from the date the bill is signed into law. In the wake of the legislation, some gambling sites have refused to accept bets from U.S. players.

“Some of the Web requests were related to betting on the World Series in October,” Nadir added. “This could have been compounded by gamblers looking to register with alternative providers before further regulations clarifying the Act are put into place.”

Recreational surfing at work can open up companies to security risks by exposing them to inappropriate content, Web viruses and spyware that can compromise confidential information.

THE COMPLETE NEWS RELEASE CAN BE READ AT BUSINESS WIRE

November 16, 2006 08:49 AM Eastern Time
BUSINESS WIRE
Panelists Reaffirm Their Commitment to Responsible Gaming
Global Gaming Expo 2006

LAS VEGAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Technological advancements and the international expansion of gaming dominated the discussion at Wednesday’s G2E keynote panel as international industry leaders gave their insights on what will define the next generation of global gaming. Moderated by American Gaming Association (AGA) President and CEO Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., the panel also discussed the continued importance of responsible gaming initiatives in the industry’s ongoing evolution.

Panelists for the keynote session included Peter Dean, CBE, chairman of the British Gambling Commission; Terry Lanni, chairman and CEO of MGM MIRAGE; T.J. Matthews, CEO of International Game Technology; Paul Oneile, CEO of Aristocrat Technologies; and Mark Yoseloff, chairman, president and CEO of Shuffle Master, Inc.

From server-based games to RFID tracking technology to Internet gaming, the industry leaders on Wednesday’s panel agreed technology is changing the way customers enjoy gaming entertainment and the way gaming companies conduct business. They emphasized, however, that new technologies on the gaming floor will not be adopted and become pervasive unless they can offer an improved entertainment experience for the customer.

“With server-based gaming, we’re moving from a stand-alone [slot machine] environment to a network environment,” said Matthews. “New technologies such as this need to take into account what customers are looking for and how this new environment can deliver an improved entertainment experience.”

Oneile pointed to multi-player slot machines as one of the new products that is designed to integrate into the new network environment. “Community games are much more than just an experiment,” he said. “We’re already seeing more community involvement in general, and I expect that will continue.”

THE COMPLETE NEWS RELEASE CAN BE READ AT BUSINESS WIRE

REUTERS UK
Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:58 AM GMT31
By Pete Harrison

LONDON (Reuters) - Gambling software maker Playtech (PTEC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) agreed to buy rival Tribeca for $75 million (39 million pounds) on Monday to create a company twice the size of its nearest competitor.

The deal brings with it a number of Internet gambling websites currently operating on Tribeca’s poker software platform, including VCPoker, PaddyPower Poker, Blue Square Poker and Scandinavian group, Expekt.

Playtech said the deal was in line with its strategy of extending its geographical reach, after the United States effectively banned online gaming at last month.

Since then, Playtech and rivals like Cryptologic (CRY.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) (CRYP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Boss Media (BOSS.ST: Quote, Profile, Research), have been struggling to find ways of improving margins to compensate for the lost revenues.

Chief Executive Avigur Zmora told Reuters: “Of the non-U.S. businesses, I don’t think we’ll have close competition. Most probably we’ll be more than twice as big as the next one, with around $400,000 of rake (commission) per day.”

Playtech will find “significant” synergies, and its poker revenues will more than double in 2007, he added.

Playtech shares rose 1.6 percent to 193 pence by 9:27 a.m., valuing the group at around 414 million pounds.

The group also announced third-quarter income from non-U.S. players increased to 53 percent from 49 percent a year earlier.

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE AT REUTERS UK

CNN MONEY
BetOnSports ban separate from tax suit against company executives.
November 10 2006: 4:29 PM EST

ST. LOUIS (Reuters) — BETonSPORTS Plc and government prosecutors agreed Thursday on a court order permanently restraining the indicted online gaming company from taking bets in the United States, according to a release from a U.S. Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway.

The permanent injunction is an extension of a temporary restraining order against BETonSPORTS (Charts) previously entered in the United States District Court Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis on July 17, 2006.
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The London-based company has not operated in the United States since mid-August after it and a dozen executives, several from related Florida companies, were named in a 22-count indictment alleging they failed to pay billions of dollars in excise taxes.

It had been placed under a temporary stop-business order by U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson pending discussions on language for a permanent order.

In the interim President George W. Bush signed a law that bans U.S. banks from handling gambling transactions.

On Aug. 16, David Carruthers, the former chief executive of the company, was freed on $1 million bond with strict curbs on his movements.

BETonSPORTS fired Carruthers after his July 16 arrest during a layover at a Texas airport and later announced it had shut down its operations in Costa Rica and Antigua that had served U.S. bettors.

At a Monday hearing before Jackson, the lawyer representing BETonSPORTS, Jeffrey Demerath, said the agreement on the restraining order was not to be taken as an admission of guilt on the part of the company.

Online gambling represents a new challenge to traditional casino companies like Harrah’s (down $0.24 to $74.50, Charts), Boyd Gaming Corp. (down $0.05 to $40.50, Charts), and MGM Mirage (up $0.04 to $44.75, Charts) and whose operations are constrained by the laws of the places they operate in.

READ THIS ARTICLE AT CNN MONEY

POKER NEWS
November 09, 2006
Haley Hintze
In an article written by Haley Hintze at POKER NEWS, comparisons were made between the governments of Great Britain and the United States…. “A virtual line in the sand drawn by United Kingdom officials responsible for the oversight of Britain’s legalized online gaming industry is likely to further isolate the United States in its efforts to legislate online gaming out of existence. As reported in The Register, the U.K. will strengthen its commitment to regulating and licensing online gambling companies, though it will still extradite U.K.-resident gaming executives to the U.S. upon request. The announcement comes out of the recent conference of over 30 countries currently housing online gaming, hosted by Great Britain at its famed Royal Ascot racetrack.”

U.K. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell was quoted as saying “We do not support the approach the United States has taken. The enormous risk of prohibition is that it forces the industry underground.” In a separate release, Jowell is quoted as saying, “We will welcome them here because we believe that by allowing those who want to gamble to do so over the counter not under the counter is the best way to protect children and vulnerable people and keep out crime.”

The article then raises the question inquiring minds would really like to know… did the land-based casinos back the wrong horse? “The U.K. announcement changes very little on the surface as it applies to U.S.-based online gamblers, but it has a very deep secondary effect, one likely to make land-based gaming concerns in the U.S. wondering if they’ve backed the wrong horse in their long-shot hopes that the UIGEA will break down and reassemble the online-gaming market into a form more to their suiting. U.S. gaming concerns had cause to hope that the damage caused by the passage of the UIGEA would have a domino effect throughout the online-gaming industry, with major casino interests more likely, at a later date, to be able assume a dominant worldwide market position should a subsequent federal legalizing of online gaming occur.” “This argument, buttressed by the size of the U.S. gambling consumer market, was that other countries would fall in line behind the U.S.’s wishes. When combined with the gigantic marketing muscle wielded by the largest U.S. land-based gaming interests, it wasn’t that much of a stretch to imagine the U.S. trying to bully its way to the top of a market where it was severely behind the curve, assuming it could shake free of far-right motives behind the UIGEA’s passage. The odds of a Harrah’s becoming the worldwide online-gaming leader have become rather more remote.”

TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE PLEASE VISIT POKER NEWS

EU BUSINESS

The European Betting Association and the Remote Gambling Association welcome the final publication by the European Commission on 12th October 2006 of the Study of Gambling Services in the Internal Market of the European Union commissioned in November 2004 to the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law.

This Study sheds significant light on the gambling market of the EU. It reveals its fragmented nature, the inconsistency of the monopoly restrictions with the EU Treaty and the growth potential of this industry whether in the EU or overseas.

Expansion in the EU provides the opportunity for regulations and supervision of all EU operators, high product quality assurance, increased tax returns and consumer protection. On the other hand, if the industry is driven out of the EU, it may lead to the offer of dubious gambling products in an uncontrolled manner by operators who are outside the scope of EU regulation. This is an outcome that the members of EBA and RGA wish to avoid.

The Study also outlines in the most authoritative manner the current legal chaos prevailing in various EU Member States with legal restrictions and state monopolies, which often do not adhere to the criteria established by the settled ECJ case law. Moreover, in many cases Member States do not provide data or statistics justifying the restrictions in place or proving their proportionality.

PLEASE READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE AT EU BUSINESS

iGAMING BUSINESS
08-11-06

London, UK (Press Release) 7 November 2006 — Gaming companies have switched their focus from the huge US market to concentrate more on Europe and Asia; speculation is mounting regarding mergers between 888 and PartyGaming and /or Ladbrokes; London casinos are becoming important strategic asset for foreign gaming companies; new legislation in Britain next year will clear the way for super casinos and an influx of online gaming businesses and Ryan air have reportedly formed a gaming partnership with Internet bingo group… When W. Edwards Deming wrote “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory” sometime between 1900 and 1993, he definitely was not referencing the gaming and gambling industry’s reaction to major upheavals.

The arrests of iGaming executives by The Department of Justice in the US had thrust the legality of gaming and gambling into the spotlight and put many a company on its back foot. Generation of gamers in the lucrative North American market were immediately off limits. But this did not sound the death knell for gaming and gambling

“In a rapidly changing environment [for the gambling industry] it is more and more of an importance to generate games-content precisely fitted to the target group addressed” comments Eberhard Duerrschmid CEO of Greentube, a leading developer and provider of Gaming Solutions for the Internet, mobile devices and iTV. Eberhard is just one of over 70 speakers taking part at an on- and offline gambling summit in London on 6th – 7th December, Bullet Business Europe ‘06. “A whole generation of gamers is out there and just waiting to be collected and sorted into the value-chains of entertainment setups that are prepared to specifically adopt to their needs” continues Eberhard.

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE AT iGAMING BUSINESS

REUTERS UK

BETonSPORTS, U.S. reach stop-business agreement
Mon Nov 6, 2006 5:10 PM GMT137

ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - BETonSPORTS Plc (BSS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and government prosecutors have agreed on a court order permanently restraining the indicted online gaming company from taking bets in the United States, lawyers on both sides told a U.S. court in St. Louis on Monday.

The order is expected to be filed with the court later this week after technical Internet-related language is screened by experts.

The London-based company has not operated in the United States since mid-August after it and a dozen executives, several from related Florida companies, were named in a 22-count indictment alleging they failed to pay billions of dollars in excise taxes.

It had been placed under a temporary stop-business order by U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson pending discussions on language for a permanent order.

In the interim President George W. Bush signed a law that bans U.S. banks from handling gambling transactions.

Details of the proposed final order were not made public.

On August 16, David Carruthers, the former chief executive of the company, was freed on $1 million bond with strict curbs on his movements.

BETonSPORTS fired Carruthers after his July 16 arrest during a layover at a Texas airport and later announced it had shut down its operations in Costa Rica and Antigua that had served U.S. bettors.

At Monday’s hearing before Jackson, the lawyer representing BETonSPORTS, Jeffrey Demerath, said agreement on the restraining order was not to be taken as an admission of guilt on the part of the company.

READ THIS ARTICLE AT REUTERS UK

Monday 6 November 2006

LONDON, November 6 /PRNewswire/ — eCOGRA (eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance) www.ecogra.org, the online gambling industry’s independent player protection and standards authority, has offered to lend its regulatory experience to the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport. This follows on from its recent summit on internet gambling.
eCOGRA’s long standing success in providing online gambling regulation puts it in the unique position to advise on all areas of player protection and fair gaming, as well as on the processes required to effectively monitor and certify sites. Its independent board of directors - Bill Galston, ex chief inspector of the Gaming Board for Great Britain, Michael Hirst, ex chairman Hilton International and Frank Catania, ex Assistant Attorney General, Director New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, have unrivalled experience in what is still considered a maturing industry.

Now entering its fourth year, the standards authority awards its own ’seal of approval’ to over 100 tier one gambling sites following extensive inspections by independent, world renowned auditors. Once approved, sites must continue to adhere to the organisation’s eGAP or eCOGRA Generally Accepted Practices, or risk losing the seal - ensuring greater continued protection for players. Areas covered in the eGAP include continuous testing to ensure fairness of the software, responsible operator conduct and measures to limit underage and problem gambling. Robust provisions against money laundering are also included; an area highlighted as one of concern in some recent media reports, although there is no evidence that this is in fact a problem area.

eCOGRA has entered into agreements with other regulatory authorities, including, Kahnawake, Malta and the Philippines and is in talks with several others to have aspects of its seal of approval process recognised in lieu of local assessments.

Andrew Beveridge, CEO, eCOGRA comments, “It is in the best interests of the industry, which provides employment and revenues worldwide, that it is recognised and regulated by national laws and we want to continue to offer our support for what the UK is doing in this area. Our experience is that this is the way to protect the players, enhance their experience and ensure fair play is provided by responsible and regulated operators. The leading sites that bear our seal are presently able to demonstrate that they offer responsible gambling to the many millions who play online every day.”

Distributed by PR Newswire on behalf of eCOGRA Ltd