Studies Don't Do Much -- U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., a long-time opponent of banning Internet gambling and the author of a federal regulatory bill, is questioning the value of Rep. Shelley Berkley's, D-Nev., legislation to form a panel to study the benefits of regulation. Frank shared his views on the matter this week with the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce at the Library of Congress. "Studies don't do much," Frank said. "What's to study? Whether or not I should be able to make my own bet with my own money?" Sixty-four members of the House, including Frank, have signed on as co-sponsors of the Berkely bill. With the addition on Wednesday of Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., the Frank legislation has 38 co-sponsors.
A Better Lobby -- I-gaming software developer Microgaming unveiled its new poker lobby technology this week at the European I-Gaming Congress & Expo in Barcelona. The new feature, which is being rolled out across 40 of the provider's top online poker rooms, is designed to help players to find the right tables quickly and more efficiently. It will have a simple mode for single table tournaments and an advanced mode enabling players to see all games in the same view and spent more time at the table. CEO Roger Raatgever said the new lobby is the culmination of months of player feedback.
Acquiring Shares -- Fun TechnologiesInc. today announced that it has reached a non-binding agreement in principle with its majority shareholder, Liberty Media Corporation, through which Liberty will indirectly acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Fun not already owned by Liberty at a price per share of GBP 1.75. Liberty, which currently indirectly owns approximately 53 percent of the outstanding Fun common shares, originally proposed to acquire the shares at 1.635.
Listing Shares -- 888 announced today that an application has been made to the U.K. Listing Authority and the London Stock Exchange plc for listing a further 4 million ordinary shares at £0.005 each, fully paid to trade on the London Stock Exchange and to be admitted to the Official List. The shares will rank pari passu with the existing issued shares of the company and will be issued pursuant to the exercise of share options and share vesting under the 888 All-Employee Plan.
Boss Appointments -- Boss Media announced today that it has appointed the following people to its nomination committee: Mats Lindström of Medströms AB (chairman), Svante Elfving of Brummer & Partners AB, Åsa Nisell of Swedbank Robur Fonder AB and Meg Tivéus, Boss Media's chairman of the board. The committee's duties prior to the forthcoming annual general meeting in 2008 are to submit a proposal with respect to the number of directors to be elected, the fees for the board of directors, the board of directors' composition and the chairman of the board of directors. It will also propose new instructions for the nomination committee to the next annual general meeting. Today's appointments were made in accordance with a decision made at the company's annual general meeting on May 10, 2007.