Legal Stuff -- The Island nation of Antigua and Barbuda said last week that it is threatening to take the United States to court at the World Trade Organization if the U.S. doesn't ease restrictions on Internet gambling. Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda's chief financial services negotiator, said he would like to meet with U.S. representatives in the next few weeks to see if the U.S. will change or repeal the laws that foster a hostile environment to Internet gambling. "We simply want an understanding by them that their laws on Internet gaming are a restraint on trade that is inconsistent with the WTO rules and its own obligations under the WTO treaty," Sanders said. Antigua and Barbuda has lost an estimated $30 million in revenue because of U.S. regulations on I-gaming, Sanders said.
Tidbit from Asia -- The South China Morning Post is reporting that Stanley Ho, the owner of several Asian casinos and gambling operations, has offered Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein a place in North Korea where Hussein could seek political asylum. Ho told the newspaper that North Korea officials have OK'd the offer of asylum for Hussein on a mountain in the northern portion of the country.
Making Deals -- Tabcorp Holdings Ltd. is buying Jupiters Ltd. for AU $1.7 billion in cash, stock and assumed debt. The deal puts a value of AU $6.06 cents per share on Jupiters, which includes several casinos on Australia's Gold Coast and in Queensland. Tabcorp is Australia's largest gaming group. UNiTAB Ltd. had also been considering a bid to buy Jupiters. The Queensland-based Jupiters said it will sell, spin off or take public its Centrebet online sports betting business.
US News -- Adrian McPherson, a former quarterback for Florida State, is facing felony charges relating to forgery of checks as well as a misdemeanor for allegedly placing sports bets via the Internet. McPherson, 19, was taken off the football team on Nov. 25 after the coach, Bobby Bowden, learned of the player's alleged check forging. "Our players are told time and time again what they can and cannot do, and gambling is a subject that is top of the list," Bowden told Florida Today. ... Myles Brand, the president of the National Collegiate Athletics Association, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal recently that he does not have plans to lead an effort to have Congress ban sports books from taking bets on college games. Brand said that it will be up to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to take the lead on such a movement.
Bit from the UK -- InterGame Conferences is producing a conference titled "How Do We Regulate Internet Gambling," which will take place on April 30 at the New Connaught Rooms in London. The event's keynote speakers will be the authors of two forthcoming reports about the online gambling industry: Graham White, the chief inspector of the British Gaming Board, and Clive Hawkswood, the leader of the betting and racing section of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. A representative from U.K. Customs and Excise will also speak on ways of taxing Internet gambling in the United Kingdom.
New Stuff -- Peak Entertainment NV said today that it is streamlining the customer loyalty programs for all five of its online gaming sites into one program. The company said the new loyalty program, called "Peak Rewards," will allow players to pool their points from all five casinos. Players can exchange the points for cash, merchandise or travel.