Italy -- The Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS), Italy's monopolies authority, has banned more Web sites from Italian access as promised in the country's Finance Act 2006, which requires Italian Internet Service Providers to block access to all gaming sites not authorized by the Italian government. The latest list of 35 sites banned includes two Italian sites, Expekt.it and Delicato.it, reportedly because they were not complying with local rules.
Japan -- Rakuten Inc., a Japanese Internet mall operator, has announced that it will form mutually beneficial business alliances with 12 horse racing operators in Japan to sell horse-betting tickets via the Internet. The alliance will benefit local race operators by attracting horse racing fans from outside their areas, while Rakuten can cash in on Net users who visit the Web site to buy the betting tickets. Rakuten says it needs to work on the purchasing system, however, for the tickets via the Net to prevent those under 20 years old from illegally buying them. The company's 12 partners include horse race operators in the Hokkaido, Aichi and Kochi prefectures. Rakuten aims to start sales by the end of the year.
GREF -- The Gaming Regulators European Forum (GREF) 2006 meeting, organized by the AAMS in cooperation with the directorate, will be held in Rome this week, starting Wednsday. The meeting will address responsible gaming, local and national gaming developments, a business meeting on technical issues, gaming addiction and illegal gambling. Founded in 1989, GREF represents European governments whose aim is to regulate the gaming sector. The following countries participate in GREF: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The Netherlands -- Dutch Liberal MEP Toine Manders has requested that the Internal Market Committee of the European Parliament put together an independent gambling report because gambling has been excluded from the EU Services Directive. The report would have no legal status, but it would send a message as to how the committee thinks gambling should be regulated at a European Level.
Quoteworthy -- "[But] the fact that the House bills wouldn't outlaw online betting on horse racing, which Congress allowed states to authorize in 2000, seems to belie the sincerity of the effort. And isn't it a hallmark of a free society that we don't outlaw otherwise inoffensive vices simply because some people harm themselves? Congress should be clarifying the law in the opposite direction. Legalizing online gambling and regulating the industry--as Britain has done--is the best way to toughen protections against gambling by minors, identify problem gamblers and ensure that online sites are more scrupulous than the back-alley bookie. Wouldn't it be preferable to have bettors deal with the sports book at Caesars Palace or the MGM Grand-- heavily regulated Las Vegas casinos that are part of publicly traded companies--rather than with some fly-by-night offshore player? Congress should not be allowed to thwart online freedoms. It's unlikely they will succeed anyway. The issue is whether Washington is to have any leverage over the burgeoning online gambling world, or whether that world will remain beyond the reach of U.S. law."
- An excerpt from an editorial published June 9 in the Los Angeles Times, challenging certain U.S. representatives' views on Internet gambling by asking the question: Doesn't the federal government have better things to do than outlaw Internet betting on the Super Bowl?