Elections and Gambling Policy Plans in Australia
Australian Prime Minister John Howard was successful in retaining his office by defeating Opposition leader Mark Latham in an election in October. One of the Howard government's first policy acts since re-election was to announce an anti-gambling plan that includes using grade school math classes to teach children about the problems of gambling. One of the plan's biggest supporters, Community Services Minister Kay Patterson, stated, "Perhaps you could do it in classes with mathematics, in probabilities, so that people could realize the likelihood of them winning. It's one way of showing how mathematics can be applied in everyday life." The plan would likely not take effect until at least 2006.
A few days earlier, Patterson announced that she had met with the Australian Bankers Association and was considering options to limit gambling that included blocking withdrawals for problem gamblers from ATMs in gaming venues. ABA chief David Bell stated, however, that more work was needed to prove a link between problem gambling and ATMs before an option like that could be tried.
Part of an initiative in Victoria to combat problem gambling includes training accountants to scrutinize their clients' spending habits to determine whether they have gambling problems. When a problem gambler is identified, the accountant directs him to areas where he can get help.
NZ Internal Affairs Addresses SMS Contests and Gambling Machines
New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs in investigating whether two text messaging competitions violate gambling laws passed earlier this year. The country's Gambling Act banned nearly all types of gambling over cellular phones in an effort to protect minors from accessing such services. The laws also serve to stop promoters and telcos from profiting off of competitions while shifting the cost to consumers. Text-based competition organizers must prove they are running a genuine sales promotion that doesn't cost the consumer any more than the standard communication entry fee.
Internal Affairs also announced this month that within two and a half years, all of the country's 22,000 gaming machines will be electronically monitored.
Oslo Court Rejects Norway's Gambling Machine Monopoly
A court in Oslo, Norway has ruled that a planned government monopoly on gambling machines through Norsk Tipping violates European Economic Area Agreement regulations, but Norway's Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs plans to appeal the decision. Norway's parliament ruled in 2003 that Norsk Tipping would receive a monopoly on gambling machines through 2006, but the Oslo court found that the monopoly is established for economic reasons. The Culture Ministry, however, argues that state control is necessary to manage social policy and prevent gambling addiction and organized crime.
Protection From Patriots
The government of British Columbia, Canada passed a bill in October that attempts to protect its citizens from the U.S. PATRIOT Act, which allows the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to view private data on citizens that is held by subsidiaries of U.S. firms. The new bill amends the province's Protection of Privacy Act by restricting the access of information from organizations outside Canada.
Malaysian Government Rejects Bid for Soccer Betting License
The Malaysian government has rejected Vincent Tan's Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd's request for a license to accept wagers on English premier league football. The proposal was supported by arguments claiming the license would help reduce illegal betting, which is estimated to be a $1 billion market. But as expected, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi refused to issue a license on the grounds that there is already too much gambling in the country. Malaysia has a casino, horse racing and lotteries, but no legal bookmakers.
US Law Removes Tax on Horse Racing Bets
U.S. President George Bush has signed off on a law that should help the American horse racing industry by removing a 30 percent tax on bets on races in the States made from outside the country. The law also eliminates a tax on purebloods reported from the European Union.
US Wireless Spam Rules Take Effect
The United States Federal Communications Commission's new rules for wireless spam took effect last month. An extension of the CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) Act of 2003, the new rules prohibit the delivery of commercial e-mail to wireless devices. Although the rules don't apply to text messages, autodialed calls (including text-messages) to wireless phones are already prohibited by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Wireless service providers are required to provide the FCC a list of all the Internet domains on which they offer mobile messaging so that it can create a publicly vailable list that will inform commercial e-mail senders which addresses use mobile services.
Internet Cafes Busted in Philippines for Operating as E-Casinos
Newspapers in the Philippines are reporting this week that a number of Internet cafes in at least two cities have been shut down because the operations were actually more like e-casinos than Internet cafes. In Pasig City, where the municipality's council has banned all forms of gambling, the E-Casino Filipino was closed for violating city ordinances. Customers at E-Casino purchased Internet cards to play online games and redeemed the cards for cash when they won money. Several Internet cafes in the city also reportedly faced prosecutions. Three similar establishments in Quezon City were ordered to close this week, and last month four Sports and Games Entertainment Corporation (SAGE) facilities were shut down for operating without the necessary permits and licenses.