PAF Wins Ruling Over Internet Lottery
The Finnish Court of Appeals ruled recently that Alands Penningautomatforening, or PAF, the online gaming operation located on the Aland Islands, can offer its services legally to people located in Finland.
The District Court of Aland's ruling was appealed by PAF and its staff, who were being charged with committing a lottery offense by providing PAF's online gambling services in Finland and marketing those services in Finland.
The Appeals Court ruled that PAF had not committed the lottery offense by either offering online games or marketing those games in Finland. Lars Porko, the PAF director, said that in about two months' time he will know whether the appeals' decision will be challenged in the Supreme Court.
New Mexico AG Warns About E-Mail Lotteries
New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid on April 22 warned her constituents about mail, e-mail or other lottery scams that may plague the state. She specifically stated that New Mexicans should steer clear of the El Gordo Lottery from Spain.
Madrid cited the Federal Trade Association as saying that most promotions for overseas lotteries are not legitimate. She stated that her office has seen many complaints about the El Gordo lottery requesting banking information from recipients of its promotions.
"Never give out such personal information as your bank account number," Madrid said. "You are opening yourself up to identity theft, bank account theft and other crimes... with a legitimate lottery, you don't ever have to pay to collect your winnings."
Nevada Getting a Lottery?
The mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, recently suggested that the city turn to a lottery as a way to climb out of its upcoming budget deficit, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports.
Goodman, facing an $8 million deficit in the city's budget as well as requests for pay increases for police officers and the need for a new 911 call-center, put the idea to the City Council. He advocated a similar idea last year.
According to Nevada's state constitution, lotteries have been against the law since 1864. A poll by the Las Vegas Review Journal found that 73 percent of state residents are in favor of a Nevada lottery.
WLA Forum Event Oct. 5-9 in Spain
The first-ever WLA World Lottery Forum, which is to alternate every other year with the WLA Convention and Trade Show, will take place Oct. 5-8 this year in Granada, Spain. The Spanish National Lottery will host the event.
The forum will feature new formats to allow members and associated members of the lottery organization to engage in round table discussions, small breakout sessions and morning keynote presentations.
Topics of discussion will include new challenges presented to the lottery industry by cross-media competition, security issues and changing government regulations, as well as the social responsibility of offering a lottery.