Each month IGN delivers the latest in international policy developments that could affect the I-gaming business. From dealings between nations to actions taken by international organizations, it's a digest of the latest in global policy.
Online Gaming Ban Examined in Australia
The Australian Bankers' Association recently told the country's government that banks and other financial institutions should not be held responsible for making sure citizens don't try to make online gambling transactions.
The ABA's statements were part of the group's submission to the government as part of the call for opinions on the Interactive Gaming Act, which in 2001 made it illegal for companies to offer online gambling services to Australians. The act is currently under review.
The banking group told the government that requiring banks to block illegal credit transactions for online gambling would be difficult and expensive. A number of groups have weighed in on the Act, including the Australian Casino Association, which is also opposed to the blocking of online gambling transactions.
Meanwhile in Australia, Publishing and Broadcasting this week announced it has closed CrownGames.com, the online casino it had run with an interactive gaming license in Vanuatu. The company said the closure was due to two facts: the lackluster financial performance of the venture and the regulatory uncertainty of online gambling in jurisdictions including Australia and the United States.
Kerry Packer, the executive of PBL, has not given up completely on interactive betting, however. He has lobbied the government to allow interactive television betting. The iTV betting argument has not won Packer a friend in Grant McBride, the New South Wales minister for racing and gaming. McBride is urging his fellow federal and state regulators to oppose the idea, which he calls dangerous.
"It will lead to an expansion of gambling and that, because of the specific nature of it, will lead to for those who have a gambling problem a greater risk for those people," he said.
Philippine City Worker Denounces I-Gaming
An assistant city administrator in Quezon City in the Philippines is calling for an end to Internet gambling in his city, starting with the access to online gambling that Internet cafes offer.
The Manila Times reported on May 5 that Pacifico Maghacot Jr., who is also the city's chief of the business and license office, is asking the city council to pass a law that bans online gambling in Quezon City.
"Many Internet cafes and other establishments which have computer units are now offering online gambling," he said.
Maghacot also has a problem with Sage, the Philippine company that offers the country's residents online gambling services through Internet cafes and pre-paid gambling cards.
"We are not taking (online gambling) lightly, because it is available to anybody who has access to the Internet," he said. "Even in homes and schools, Internet gambling can be played."
New Tax Lacking Details in Jamaica
When collection will start on a 15 percent General Consumption Tax is causing confusion in Jamaican businesses including its gaming companies, the Jamaica Observer reported last week.
Eugene Ffolkes, the managing director of the Jamaica Lottery Company, said his group is still trying to get details on the tax after it was announced the week before. Ffolkes said he had heard unofficially that the government would give businesses a short time to prepare. The situation could negatively impact the lottery, Ffolkes said, because its systems are designed to collect tax on the back end, not on the consumer end.
"Back end means we pay taxes to the government, aside from the regular tax that everybody else pays, after players have placed their bet," he said.
The Jamaica Lottery Company is already required to give 7.5 percent of every $20 lottery ticket sold to good causes.
A representative from Caymanas Park Limited, a horse racing operation, also told the newspaper that they did have any details on the new tax.