Vietnamese Policymakers Press for 'Sports Law'
Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) deputies met recently to address a bill, titled "Sports Law," which, if passed, will alter the country's sports betting policies. The bill received strong support from several NA officials. Deputy Nguyen Huu Nhon of the Central Binh Dinh province discussed inconsistencies that muddy the breadth of current policy. "You can bet legally on horse races, greyhound races and buffalo fights," Nhon said. "Meanwhile, betting on such a popular game like football is still prohibited." Tao Huu Phung, deputy chairman of the NA's Economic Budget Committee, corroborated Nhon's view, adding that existent civil code already permits sports betting, particularly betting on football. ". . . The government had instructed the National Committee for Sports and Physical Training to develop a project on legal organized football betting," Phung said. "So, drafting regulations to create legal basis for this is necessary." Phung also advocated for the construction of a state football lottery, which, structurally, would resemble the state’s construction lottery; a portion of football betting revenues would then be funneled back into amateur sports development programs.
New Restrictions for Korean Internet Café Owners
Opening an Internet cafe in South Korea will soon require registration, following a government decision to tighten control over gambling services, according to the Korea Times. Cafe operators will be obligated to remove betting programs from their computers, according to the new regulations, jointly drafted by the government and the governing Uri Party. Businesses that do not comply face closure and other punitive measures. The Uri Party plans to revise relevant laws during the regular session of the National Assembly, which begins in September.
HKJC Mulls Exporting Betting Products
The Hong Kong Jockey Club is reportedly considering exporting horse betting, football betting and lottery (its three key products) to other countries, including the lucrative mainland market. Outgoing head Ronald Arculli said that the organization had been in talks with representatives from other countries over the past two to three years on the potential expansion of its business, but added that no concrete plans have been made. The Jockey Club has a government-granted monopoly on legal betting and is the third-largest charitable organization in Hong Kong. Arculli has said Hong Kong does not need casinos of its own; the increasingly crowded landscape has forced the club to search for new markets of its own - including overseas gamblers and younger audiences in Hong Kong.
US/Antigua WTO Talks Stall
Negotiations between the United States and the Caribbean state of Antigua and Barbuda concerning the U.S. ban on Internet gambling have come to an indefinite halt. In 2005, a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel sided with Antigua and Barbuda's claim that the U.S. ban on Internet gambling violated global trade rules. Subsequent efforts at reaching a negotiated settlement stalled and eventually broke down. "Our delegation presented a number of proposals for the U.S.'s consideration, but, sadly, they were not prepared to accept them," said Harold Lovell, minister of tourism, foreign affairs and international transport and trade for the Caribbean state. "What they offered us was not acceptable." Trade officials expect Antigua and Barbuda to notify the WTO on Nov. 4 of its decision to resume proceedings, which would, in turn, allow the United States to commence its appeal.
eBay Fights Net Neutrality
Online auction giant eBay is asking people to fight U.S. federal legislation that threatens Network Neutrality (a.k.a. Net Neutrality), which ensures that all Internet users can access the content or run the applications and devices of their choice. The House on June 8 passed the "Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006." With Net Neutrality, the Network's only job is to move data, not choose which data to privilege with higher quality service. Net Neutrality prevents the companies that control the wires from discriminating against content based on its source or ownership. Meg Whitman, president and CEO of eBay, has sent letters to customers urging them to contact their representatives in Congress to ask them to vote against Net Neutrality. She said the phone and cable companies now control more than 95 percent of all Internet access. These large corporations are spending millions of dollars to promote legislation that would allow them to divide the Internet into a two-tiered system. The top-tier would be a high-speed toll-road restricted to only the largest companies that can afford to pay high fees for preferential access to the Net, while the bottom tier would be what is left for everyone else.
ECJ Ruling Clarifies VAT Gambling Exemption
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently ruled in United Utilities v Commissioner of Customs & Excise that administrative services provided by an agent to a principal could not benefit from the exemption from value added tax (VAT) granted to gambling activities. This affects outsourcing by U.K. operators of telephone betting businesses of their call-center services, in this case Littlewoods Promotions Limited. Littlewoods operated a telephone betting business and outsourced certain call center services relating to the business to Vertex Data Science Limited, which Littlewoods paid for providing the staff and equipment necessary to take bets. Vertex was a member of a VAT group to which United Utilities Plc belonged. United argued that the services provided by Vertex to Littlewoods fell within the gambling exemption and that no transactions attracted VAT, but Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) disagreed saying that Vertex's services were not exempt betting services. The VAT Tribunal, the High Court and the Court of Appeal in the United Kingdom all agreed with HMRC and dismissed United's appeals. The ECJ ruled in favor of HMRC. The judgment makes it clear that a taxpayer must actually be in the gambling business to fall within the gambling exemption.