Illegal Soccer Betting Ring Busted in China
After a six-month investigation, police in Zhuhai, China busted an illegal soccer betting ring, arresting 30 suspects and confiscating US$119,610 worth of Chinese yuan and US$23,058 worth of Hong Kong dollars. Police uncovered 80 bank accounts in the raid that targeted 22 gambling venues on Dec. 22. The gambling agencies offered credit ceilings ranging from $121,000 to $242,00 in the form of deposits.
Jowell Seeks Larger Contribution for Problem Gambling
The Observer reports that U.K. Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Tessa Jowell has said she may double or triple the amount of money gaming companies must contribute toward preventing problem gambling. Jowell is angry that the companies have only provided £2 million of the £3 million that they were asked to voluntarily provide and she is threatening to make future payments toward problem gambling prevention mandatory. The Observer also quoted Gala's CEO John Kelly as saying that the £3 million would be pledged. He said, "There's an ongoing process within the gambling industry to provided this sum to the charitable trust. We recognize our responsibilities."
US Casino Operators Want Tax Cut in UK
According to the Independent, Harrah's, MGM Mirage and other American casino operators are asking the U.K. Treasury to cut their gaming tax down significantly to a rate of no more than 20 percent, otherwise they will not build the large casino resorts that are supported by the draft Gambling Bill. Large casinos currently pay a 40 percent tax, while smaller, provincial casinos pay a little less, depending on their profitability. Lloyd Nathan, managing director for MGM Mirage Development in Europe, explained that, "The current tax rate would be prohibitive to the type of large-scale development that the government is looking towards." The draft Gambling Bill would also allow unlimited slot machines in large casinos and would allow casinos to offer other types of gambling like fixed-odds betting and bingo.
US Adopts First Federal Spam Law
U.S. President George Bush signed the Can-Spam Bill into law on Dec. 16, creating the country's first bulk e-mail regulations. The law prohibits people from sending unsolicited commercial e-mail with a misleading subject line or a false return address. All commercial e-mail must clearly indicate that it is an advertisement, and must also contain opt-out mechanisms as well as information about the sender's physical location. The law also bans the practice of harvesting e-mail addresses from Web sites and hacking into computers to disguise the actual source of a mailing. Offenses are punishable by a prison sentence of up to three years. The Federal Trade Commission will receive new powers to enforce the laws, and it could possibly even set up a national do not e-mail list.
UN Working Group to Study whether Internet Governance Should Remain with US
After delegates to last month's United Nations World Summit on the Information Society were unable to agree upon whether the Internet needs a new system of governance, a working group has been appointed to study the matter. The Internet is currently controlled by a few private U.S. organizations, chiefly the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), but several countries have proposed that the control of the Internet be shifted to the UN. In the next few months a working group composed of "representatives from private industry, civil society and officials from poor and rich countries" will "evaluate existing mechanisms for the Internet, study which is the best type of governance and see if - yes or no - there is a need for change," said Francine Lambert, a spokesperson for the International Telecommunications Union, which organized the summit. The working group will present its findings in 2005 before the second phase of the summit in Tunisia.
Several UK Organizations Given Access to Telco and ISP Customer Records
The U.K. Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Communications Data) Order 2003, came into effect in England Monday, giving certain public authorities besides the police and intelligence agencies access to customer data held by telecommunications companies and Internet service providers. The Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act of 2001 required telcos and ISPs to retain communication data in order to combat terrorism. Among the collected data are subscriber details, billing data, e-mail logs, customers' personal information and records showing the location where mobile phone calls originated. The actual content of communications, however, does not need to be retained. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Order gives several organizations access to these records, including the police, Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise, MI5, MI6, GCHQ, the Financial Services Authority, the Office of Fair Trading, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the U.K. Atomic Energy Constabulary, the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency, the Radiocommunications Agency, NHS bodies, local authorities and the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. The Home Office has said that the order will restrict what type of information authorities may access and for which reasons they may request it, and the Interception of Communications Commissioner will regularly check up on authorities to ensure they do not abuse their power.