Get a Life -- The U.S. crackdown on Internet gambling may have veered off course. FBI agents are investigating a virtual world Web site that may or may not constitute Internet gambling. Members of Second Life create entire existences for their characters (avatars) and purchase goods and services by converting real U.S. dollars into virtual currency called Linden dollars, named after the game's creator, San Francisco-based Linden Lab. FBI agents have visited Second Life's Internet casinos, of which there are reportedly hundreds of users, at the invitation of Linden LabReuters reports. "We have invited the FBI several times to take a look around in Second Life and raise any concerns they would like, and we know of at least one instance that federal agents did look around in a virtual casino," said Ginsu Yoon, former general counsel for Linden Lab and current vice president for business affairs. Yoon added that the company was seeking guidance on virtual gaming activity in Second Life but had not yet received clear rules from U.S. authorities. Brent Britton, an attorney specializing in emergent technology at the law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Tampa, Florida, said Second Life could face criminal charges under the 1970 Illegal Gambling Business Act or the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act because it targets payment processors.
Big in Macau --The Macau government on Tuesday confirmed that 2006 was a record year for gambling revenues revealing that casino income exceeded US$7 billion in the region, outpacing that of the Las Vegas strip. The Chinese enclave's 22 casinos generated US$2.1 billion in the final quarter, taking the year's total gross gaming revenues to US$7.2 billion. Las Vegas, which boasts at least 40 casinos on its main strip, brought in US$6.6 billion.
GIGSE Rose --Renown gambling expert I. Nelson Rose will deliver the keynote address at the ninth annual Global Interactive Gambling Summit and Expo, June 5-7 at the Palais des Congres in Montreal. Rose is an internationally-known scholar, public speaker, writer and IGN contributor and is recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on gambling law. A 1979 graduate of Harvard Law School, he is a tenured full professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, Calif., where he teaches one of the first law school classes on gaming law. He is best known for his internationally-syndicated column "Gambling and the Law." Rose is also co-editor-in-chief of the Gaming Law Review. His keynote address will describe how the industry has evolved and what the industry can expect in the future.