GTECH Inks Deal with Finnish National Lottery
Officials with U.S.-based GTECH Holdings Corp. have announced an agreement with Finish national lottery operator Veikkaus Oy through which GTECH's subsidiary, GTECH Global Services Corporation, will provide an interactive gaming solution as well as a new integrated online and instant lottery system to Veikkaus. GTECH will additionally replace the existing gaming system with a new integrated system based on the company's Enterprise Series architecture. The contract also includes automatic provisions for two two-year extensions, which could extend the contract until 2013.
eLOT Gets Patent Approval for Internet Ticket Sales
The U.S. Patent Office issued a "Notice of Allowance" to eLOT Inc. last week for a patent covering the company's system for purchasing state and government lottery tickets over the Internet. The patent expands on earlier patents the company acquired for its operating system and now includes daily number and instant game lottery products that are purchased and played on the Internet and sold either on a daily basis or by a long-term subscription service. The system enables lotteries to sell daily numbers, Lotto, Powerball or MEGA MILLIONS tickets and instant games. The new patent also covers the eLOT system and method.
Slovakian National Lottery Turns to Online Betting
TIPOS a.s., the national lottery company for Slovakia, rolled out an online betting product on Dec. 1 and brought in more than 100 player registrations within its first 24 ours of service. The player base had reached 1,500 users by last week. The new site features five lottery games, including the pan European EuroMillions draw. TIPOS plans to release several more online games in 2005.
Camelot Picks Marketing Partner for Online Program
Camelot Group plc, the operator of the U.K. National Lottery, has contracted marketing and sales group TradeDoubler to implement an affiliate marketing program. The campaign will be designed to drive online registrations for the new "Play by Text" service, through which players purchase tickets by text message via their mobile phones for Lotto, EuroMillions and Daily Play. The affiliate program aims to drive online registrations to the National Lottery site, where users can register for accounts and play via the Internet, Sky Active or mobile phone.
Crackdown in India Targets Online Lottery Sellers
Law enforcement officials in Calcutta conducted raids over the weekend on 440 offices and other locales in an effort to thwart illegal sellers of online lottery tickets. Four hundred seventy-two devices were seized, although no arrests were made.
World Games Under Fire
Canadian lotterry and gaming products provider World Games Inc. is once again the target of law enforcement. Members join the company's program with the intention of registering as many new members as possible in an effort to derive credit from the new members. The pyramid scheme entails a vast percentage of rewards going to those who are highest up in the scheme. The latest legal action came from Finland, where the district court of Lahti indicted several WGI members because the scheme violates the Finnish Lotteries Act. Those indicted had arranged recruitment presentations of WGI's games in various locations. WGI began operating in Finland in 2002.
Monopolies Lobby EC
Two leading trade associations representing national and state lotteries, gambling monopolies and their jurisdictions are urging the European Commission to keep tight controls on the lottery industry. UNI-Europa (United Network International) and European Lotteries are fighting to keep legislation in place after the commission's directive on services in the European Union's internal market was released. The groups argue that lifting restrictions on competition in jurisdictions where gambling is permitted would hurt efforts to curb money laundering and keep criminals out of the industry. The commission has included gambling in initial drafts of the directive, but countries with monopolies in place are hoping the commission will leave gambling issues up to individual governments.