European Matters -- Jean-Pierre Jouyet, France's Secretary of State for European Affairs, reportedly met with EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy this week to discuss France's recently-disrupted monopoly on betting and gaming. eGaming Review reports that a spokesperson for McCreevy said the meeting had gone well and that France had received an extension to reply to the reasoned opinion sent by the commission June 27, though no date has been set. At an event organized by the European Policy Center think tank this week, Jouyet remarked that the EU's competition policy must not render European countries weaker than their key global partners. "Competition policy remains an essential tool for the working of the internal market," Jouyet said, "[but it must be] applied without penalizing and fragilizing" member states in relation to their partners.
WorldWinner Renews with Microsoft -- Fun Technologies subsidiary WorldWinner has renewed its multi-year deal with Microsoft to provide skill-based games for MSN Games. The agreement also sees WorldWinner host a co-branded Website, msnworldwinner.com, where players can compete against thousands of others on the WorldWinner network. "By teaming up with WorldWinner we can provide the MSN Games community with a great option for enhanced competition," said Bryan Trussel, director of content and portals with Microsoft Casual Games.
New Platform from NetEnt -- Net Entertainment (NetEnt) has released its CasinoModule 3.8 software platform, which includes five new games and updated management capabilities. "Player expectations constantly grow, driving the need for increasingly complex games," said NetEnt CEO Johan Ohman. "Net Entertainment is taking an active role in meeting this demand, assuring that our licensees at all times can offer the latest in online gaming."
Another Huge Quarter for Macau -- The AP reports Macau's gambling revenue for the second quarter has jumped 50 percent to $2.45 billion compared to Q2 2006. During H1 2007, the special administrative territory's gambling revenue rose 47.5 percent to $4.7 billion from $3.2 billion in H1 2006, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said. The former Portuguese enclave has seen marked growth in recent years as some of the Las Vegas gambling industry's most well-known names--Las Vegas Sands, MGM Mirage and Wynn Resorts--have broken ground on large casino and resort projects. Jorge Costa Oliveira, who oversees legal matters for the Macau Gaming Commission, said in February that the passage of I-gaming regulations could happen within the next year or two.
Betfair, Stanley Meet with Italian MPs -- Bookmakers Review reports that representatives of Betfair and Stanley Betting have met with Italian MPs to discuss "the problems of the gambling market in Italy." Massimiliano Bancora, Betfair country manager for Italy, proposed to replace the 8 percent turnover tax with a 29 percent tax on bookmakers' gross profits. Betfair, which has yet to meet with Italian regulator AAMS to define terms for the p2p offering, reportedly said a move to a gross-profit taxation scheme would guarantee players better odds and, in return, generate increased turnover for the Italian bookmakers.
Stock Watch -- On the LSE, Playtech was up 8p to 374, PartyGaming was down 1.50p to 32.75 and Sportingbet was down 1p to 55.