Online Casino News and Information

Stephen Lawrence, who founded Neteller together with John David Lafebvre, pleaded guilty today to charges of criminal conspiracy.

Neteller processed billions of Dollars related to internet gambling.

In a court room in Manhattan , NY, Stephen Lawrence said that he acknowledged that facilitating bets with offshore bookies was illegal.

He agreed to be partially accountable for the 100 Million Dollars the government wants from people who were involved in the operation. He is cooperating with the US investigators.

Lawrence and Lefebvre, who are Canadian citizens, were arrested in January as reported by games and Casino here.

Neteller is based in the Isle of Man and was traded on the London Stock Exchange.

The Company announced yesterday that due to the ongoing investigation by the US authorities, the annual audited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2006 will not be finalised in time to send to shareholders by 30 June 2007. The Company can confirm that the outcome of the investigation is the sole matter delaying the finalisation of the accounts.

Therefor, the Company will not be able to comply with Rule 19 of the AIM Rules that requires an AIM company to send its accounts to shareholders not later than six months after the end of the financial year to which they relate. Consistent with its advice to the USAO to use its best efforts to resolve the investigation by no later than 13 July 2007, the Company is doing its utmost to finalise and post its audited accounts and to announce its full year results for the period ended 31 December 2006 to the market.

Hence, the Company’s ordinary shares will continue to be suspended from trading.

Expert opinion was that the company’s offshore status removed it from the reach of U.S. law.

Prosecutors read U.S. law differently, and charged Lawrence with violating decades-old acts prohibiting the use of electronic wires to send or receive information that facilitates illegal gambling. (and to be precise - illegal gambling according to the wire act is sportsbetting!)

Neteller was never directly involved in placing or taking bets. Neteller is an e-wallet, facilitating the sending and receiving of cash. It was used by both bettors and internet bookies.

Industry experts estimate that Americans bet $6 billion a year online.

According to prosecutors, Neteller processed $5.1 billion worth of transactions in the first half of 2006. Most of this came from US citizens gamling online.

Only a few days after the arrest of Lefebvre and Lawrence Neteller said it would no longer process online gambling transactions for U.S. customers. See more information here.

Lebebvre had left Neteller in December 2005 while Lawrence left in October last year, just after the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

Lefebvre pleaded not guilty. His case is still pending.

Congressman Barney Frank is still out there for the American people, by gaining sponsors to his proposed bill to bring back legalization of online gambling. His proposed bill will end the ban imposed last year on online gambling in the United States.

Barney Frank’s proposed bill, the HR-1046, to legalize, license, regulate and tax online gambling has gained another sponsor, Representative Don Young out of Alaska, to join 25 others at Frank’s side for a total of 27 at this time.

Learn more about Barney Frank and his bill.

We believe that soon steps will be taken to inform legislators of the effects of the UIGEA and the circumstances of its outcome. It is the hope of many Americans, as well as the many thousands around the world, that Washington will adhere to the advice given.

We can only hope that more Representatives and Congressmen will step up to participate in the Barney Frank bill HR-1046 proposed just a couple months ago. But with all their individual agendas to attend to, it is hard to say at this point in time that they will hear the voices of the nationwide constituency that has spoken.

In order for Legislators to listen to the input given from individuals in the United States and around the world, they need to set aside, if for a moment, the UIGEA law from their minds. Much can come from the Barney Frank bill to help Washington get in on the action of online gambling in the U.S., should the bill be passed. Those that govern and make the laws need to see the light on this issue.

All of the online sports gambling and betting that are run by large companies is sweeping the nation these days, of which we bet more companies are sure to follow, what happened to the common American’s rights to online gambling on any site in their own homes? This article should spark your interests.

Sports-book ads in USA Today.com may shock many people with this statement posted on their website; “USA Today.com and Covers.com have joined forces to create the most comprehensive odds game match-ups site on the Web.” Much information can be found between the two, from weather updates, game predictions and ongoing games in the current sports updated every two minutes.

Other articles have been published in the past where ESPN.com, which is owned by Disney, was running advertisements for online sports betting websites, but they were running on non-US portals.

Sportsbook.com may have had a little help from USA Today.com’s advertisements on their USA website, where Sportsbook.com allows U.S. residents to bet on various sporting events. But, those ads may have come from Covers.com, where now they show up on the USA Today website.

You can find the complete story on this article by going to OG Paper.

We think it is time that the government takes a hint on this gambling issue, and soon. More companies run by US citizens are stepping up to show that this is a free nation in the gambling arena. The U.S. citizens have the free choice to place their hard-earned money where they want. If we were to place a large amount of money on the politician of our choice, and he were to lose at the elections, that would be a loss, or a gamble you might say.

Betcha is a platform for peer to peer betting where they allow users to bet on four markets; News, Business & Finance, Arts & Entertainment and Sports. The founder, Nick Jenkins, is like many founders with a brilliant idea, and may be a little crazy to think that Betcha has no worries about two related things; it is based in Seattle, WA and all debts are on the honor system.

Nick Jenkins says that Betcha is a third way to gamble and an EBay site for bets. The honor system mentioned means that betting is honor-based with no obligation to pay when you lose.

With that in mind, if you do not have to pay for your loss, you are not technically gambling, thus will not have the legal problems as where gambling is involved. By the end of the day you always have a way to option-out of your bet, but, with not paying a loss the feed-back will give you a bad reputation.

Your reputation is scored as a rating at Betcha, like the banks and credit-card companies, where if you option-out of your bet, your rating will drop, making it harder for you to find someone to bet with. If your rating points are low on the reputation scale you may have to find someone with the same low rating as yourself, to get your reputation points back up into a higher reputable betting area.

The reason Betcha does not run a-foul to the gambling laws is because they give the gambler an option-out to not pay-off their losses. Betcha is not afraid of the Blue Laws set in Washington State because they do not have payment processing that would make it illegal. They also do not bend the rules of the Federal Wire Act because there is no forced wagering involved.

Get the live/pre-recorded full story on the Podcast, with your host JTodd from APCW.

Nick Jenkins, although he does not like gambling, is doing a little side bet of his own, where if he is taken to the courts over his starting a betting site, he could face some time. Come to think of it, that is not as bad as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act slipped in by a politician.

The European Commission is opening the door for sports-betting in countries close to home. We are hoping for the ripple effect to hit the US, where the online players can get back to a relaxing game in their own homes.

Sweden and France have a request from the European Commission to amend their laws, following replies to letters of formal notice. The European Commission, with the knowledge of a provision for sports-betting services in Greece, France and Sweden, has taken the first steps to remove obstacles for these services via the request.

The Commission has issued those countries with “reasoned opinions”, because it was not satisfied with their reasons given for maintaining their gambling monopolies. This matter could be referred to the European Court of Justice if France and Sweden do not provide a satisfactory reply to the Commission’s demands.

The restrictions placed on sports-betting operators are not compatible with Article 49 of the EC Treaty, the Commission says, and “have not been shown to be necessary, proportionate and nondiscriminatory with guaranteeing the free movement of services”.
The Commission will decide whether Greece’s legislation is compatible with article 49 of the EC Treaty.

You can find this article in EGaming Review Magazine.

This is a great chance for several European countries to show that their online gambling businesses are put to good use, as in the many good jobs that are available to those who need them. And also to mention what the players can save and the fun of staying at home for their entertainment. It is about the same as going to the movies, where you would like to go see a good movie, but with the ever rising gas prices cannot afford to. Staying at home to watch that same movie, via the cable or satellite, saves money. This is how many feel about land-based casinos and/or sports-betting.

Hold off on those life boats for now. There may be a good piece of news for the online gamblers, should the courts prove that ‘the system’ does work.

With stipulations against banks preventing online gambling with credit cards, the court will have open ears to the reasons why the processes with the UIGEA should not continue.

The banking industry feels that the UIGEA represents an “Unfunded mandate” that will costs banks billions and are supportive of the injunction filing, sources close to Gambling911.com can reveal.

With a special focus on Internet gambling, which has lately been under severe attack by powerful lobbying groups and a select few politicians, iMEGA was founded in 2007 to promote the innovation and continued growth of the Internet.

“We seek constructive engagement with government at the Federal and State levels to ensure that the challenges of this still nascent medium are addressed with the full participation of the people and companies that have built the Internet into the powerful influence on society it has become,” the site reads.

This news update comes to you via Gambling911.com.

Let us all hope that our freedoms on the Internet will remain as they once were before the UIGEA was slipped into our lives. We may soon find out the answers to our Internet freedoms. Stay tuned in for more breaking news.

The cases brought forth against the UIGEA are making more waves around the world as each week slips by. It may be time to break out the life-boats on the high seas of internet gambling until this storm blows by or internet gamblers are saved by an unseen force.

With its suit challenging the UIGEA, iMEGA has made a splash in the US Circuit Court vs. Alberto Gonzales. By using restrictions and increased regulation of the US banking and credit card systems to prevent operators and players from engaging in internet gambling, iMEGA emerged to become a plaintiff in a suit challenging the law intended to target the internet gambling industry.

As for the freedom within the existing and future online communities, iMEGA believes that its interest in challenging the law stems from the chilling effect it will have on future innovation.

A Senior Editor of Red Herring, Cassimir Medford, covered the iMEGA story.

iMEGA’s attorney Eric Bernstein had this to say; “It’s the nature of the issue at hand, and the nature of an entity which can take punitive action against the members. There have been many other instances where groups bringing lawsuits against the government have not disclosed the identities of their members.”

The full story on this news can be found at Gambling 911.

Stay tuned for more breaking news with iMEGA and its challenge with the UIGEA. Let us hope that the tides will turn in favor of the freedom of gambling and against an illegal insertion for online gambling.

From one to three, three to four and now seven countries with claims to file for compensations because there is a disagreement for online gambling, how many more countries will step forward for their claim? Only time will tell.

In the ongoing WTO online gambling case between the U.S. & Antigua and Barbuda, Casino City has confirmed seven compensation claims have been filed against the U.S.

A Costa Rican official declined to offer specifics on their compensation claims, where Antigua and Barbuda is seeking $3.44 billion in compensation claims.

Compensation claims made thus far, says an official familiar with the case, are by Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, the EU, Canada, India, Australia and Macau. America’s decision to exclude online gambling from its General Agreement of Trade in Service Agreement (GATS) schedule is what sprouted the response of compensation claims from these countries.

Japan has not put in their claim for compensations, but has lodged a letter of interest in the case, the official said.

Quoted by the source; “It’s rather premature to say how things will proceed from here.”

The U.S. policy is not expected to change from the compensation claims.

Get the full story by going to the source.

This is beginning to sound like the gold rush in the early pioneering days of the United States. Countries from around the world are coming for the U.S., to stake their claim.

We can only hope that the talks between the US President and Antigua’s Prime Minister will only come out peacefully in the end, where the ban on US online gambling may eventually be lifted.

During the meeting between Caricom leaders and President Bush, the Antigua & Barbuda Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer raised a question about the country’s Internet gambling dispute with the US with his desire to settle this matter.

Because of the US non-compliance with the WTO ruling, it was pointed out today to President Bush that Antigua & Barbuda will make application to the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization for certain remedies. PM Spencer was pleased with President Bush’s response that he pledged to look into the matter in an effort to reach a resolution.

To date the discussions held between Antigua & Barbuda and the United States have not resulted in any agreement, but Antigua & Barbuda still remain hopeful for positive results in a resolution of the issue.

The EU, Japan, India, Costa Rica and other nations are also filing complaints for compensation today.

To see the full story on this breaking news, visit the Casino Gambling Web.

More nations are following suit for compensations because of a foolish ban on US online gambling. Let us hope that the US people will soon be able to go back to a peaceful relaxing night of online gambling.

You heard it right, the chief executive at PartyGaming, Mitch Garber, as part of his planned series of share sales, has cashed in options worth more than £1.7m towards gifting the company’s employee trust a raft of shares to be awarded to employees.

Party’s recent discussions with the US authorities, from an analyst’s note that was issued, could pave the way for the company to be snapped up by a US gaming or Internet giant. The most likely “end-game” for Party, as the analysts suggest, may come from either one of the Internet giants such as Google and eBay or by US gaming companies such as Las Vegas Sands and MGM who own several large land-based gaming casinos in Las Vegas, USA.

If given the “all-clear” by the Department of Justice, Party could be an “easily palatable bolt-on” with the present share price levels as the buy note from Deutsche Bank suggests. Party could be an interesting investment ahead of possible US licensing, and the note adds: “If efforts to lift the US legacy risk were successful, PartyGaming could become an attractive acquisition target even if Barney Frank’s licensing efforts come to nothing in this session of Congress.

After offloading over 4.3 million shares, Garber has a remaining shareholding of over 4.5 million shares. Following the Deutsche note, Party’s share price rose over 3%. Should the US clampdown on black poker sites intensify, Party could benefit in terms of player acquisition as the note points out. Party could also consider gearing up its balance sheet should the US agree with recent online gaming-friendly proposals that may end up as a regulated market.

PartyGaming has also announced that Garber has gifted 300,000 shares to the company employee benefit trust.

You can find the story on this article at EGaming Review Magazine.com.

This may be the beginning step in the right direction for the ban on US online gambling to be lifted. The US will have much to gain if they consider all the possibilities and act with promptness.

You can find out for yourself what PartyGaming is.