Russian Casinos Ordered to Close
Russia's State Duma, the lower house of the country's parliament, on Dec. 20 passed in a third and final reading gambling legislation that forces casinos across the country to relocate into four designated zones. All that remains for the bill to become law is the signature of President Vladimir Putin, the bill's original sponsor. If it becomes law, casinos in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities not permitting gambling would be closed by June 30, 2009. The four legal gambling zones as of July 1, 2009 will be the Altai, Primorsk and Kaliningrad regions, as well as an area between the Rostov and Krasnodar regions.
Crackdown in Israel
Israel-based Interlogic, which operates the skill games site Play65.com, was notified by Israeli authorities that its operation of a real-money gambling site for backgammon constituted a criminal offense, Haaretz.com. Major General Yohanan Danino, head of the Police Investigations and Intelligence unit, with the backing of the attorney general Menachem Mazuz, will head the Interlogic investigation. Danino has also warned credit card companies operating in Israel--Lemmi Card, Visa C.A.L. and Isracard--against continued handling of gambling money deposits. "Cooperation with the companies that operate gambling sites over the Internet, including provision of clearing services to these companies, is a criminal offense with all that this entails," Danino said. The paper reported that backgammon itself, or gambling with virtual money, is not prohibited.
The Latest from Germany
German commercial lottery operators Fluxx A.G. and Tipp24 AG say they may abandon their home market if the country's 16 states pass a new law to uphold a monopoly on gambling and effectively ban private operators. Tipp24 said in November it is preparing to expand in to at least one other European market to lessen its dependence on Germany. Fluxx and Tipp24 make a profit by charging state-owned lottery commissions for selling tickets to consumers on the Internet.
In the meantime, Germany's federal states have postponed until early next year plans to propose a law upholding a state monopoly on gambling that may eliminate private lottery agents and sports betting companies, according to a Bloomberg wire report, which supplied no further information. Ministers for the states met on Dec. 13 in Berlin to discuss the ban, despite pressure from the European Commission to open up Europe's gambling market to competition. The states of Saxony, Hesse and Bavaria imposed respective bans earlier this year on commercial betting directed mainly at Austrian Internet betting firm bwin.com whose German unit is the country's biggest commercial bookmaker.
Poker Coming to British Pubs
The Telegraph reports that Pubs in England and Wales will be free to allow poker games next year under the new gambling laws planned by the government. Once the laws set forth by the U.K. Gambling Act take effect in September 2007, pubs in the region will be able to allow limited-stake games, amounting to a few pounds per head. The government plans to consult early next year on the level of stake to be allowed. Only pubs with a special license from their local council are currently allowed to hold poker games.
SkyBet Calls for UK Regulation of 'Participation TV Channels'
According to Yogonet.com, SkyBet Managing Director Nick Rust has petitioned the U.K. government to regulate participation television channels (ITV, Quiz Call, et al.) under the U.K. Gambling Act. Speaking before a Commons select committee in early December, Rust told MPs that participation channels, like gambling, require no element of skill. As such, they should be subject to the same regulations governing non-skill-based gambling (e.g. lotteries). The select committee's purpose is to audit participation television channels, amid fear that they may foster addiction in vulnerable bettors. Broadcast regulator Ofcom and the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS), the phone line watchdog, later told the committee that "self-regulation, not a change to the law, was the best policy." ITV consumer division chief executive Jeff Henry argued that land-based broadcasters were being as "transparent and responsible as possible." ITV will reportedly earn $39 million in phone-line revenue in its first year of operation.
South Africa Getting Closer
South African media are reporting that the country's cabinet has adopted a draft amendment bill to regulate Internet gambling. The legislation proposes a licensing system for both players and operators. It does not, however, address taxation. Astrid Ludin, deputy director-general of the Department of Trade and Industry, said the initiative is based on two years of in-depth international research by a specially appointed committee. Ludin said the 2004 Gambling Act required the government to introduce within two years effective legislation regarding Internet gambling, and that the government has decided regulation rather than prohibition was the best approach. "It's not going to be a free-for-all," she said. "There is going to be player registration and basically licensing. So unless you're licensed as a player you're not entitled to gamble. And we are not permitting cell phone gambling. We're permitting only games that are played on the Internet." The next step is a public consultation process before the amendment is submitted to Parliament.