Youbet News -- California-based race wagering and content provider Youbet.com has joined the National Thoroughbred Racing Association as a special member, thereby gaining access to several NTRA programs. Youbet.com can now use NTRA advertising and official marks and can participate in NTRA consumer promotions such as the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship. The company will also work with the NTRA on various legislative and regulatory programs in state and federal jurisdictions. Youbet.com this week appointed former Ladbrokes executive Thomas E. Chaffee to oversee the company's international business development.
APIG's Suggestions -- Britain's All Party Internet Group (APIG) today released its report on the Computer Misuse Act. Overall the report, which is the result an inquiry begun in March, suggests that the maximum punishments for cyber criminals should be strengthened. The group strongly advises that DDoS attacks become explicit violations of the Computer Misuse Act so that police and courts will take the crime seriously. Other suggestions include increasing the term for computer hacking offenses from six months to two years, ensuring that the director of public prosecutions establishes a permissive policy for private prosecutions under the Act, adding educational material about the Act to the Home Office Web site, improving information on cyber crime by using statistical sampling and drafting a new Fraud Bill. Home Office Minister Caroline Flint said the government will review the report's recommendations and make necessary amendments to the Computer Misuse Act. The newly formed Association of Remote Gambling Operators in April provided APIG with written evidence illustrating betting operators' struggles with DDoS attacks.
IASbet News -- Following the resignation of < as director and CEO in April,
IASbet has appointed Robert Edge as its new CEO. Edge replaces former CEO and Director, Roger Smeed, who resigned in April. He joined the company as chief financial officer in June 2003 and was quickly promoted to chief operating officer. A fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Edge served as a senior partner for BDO and Ernst & Whinney. Today he delivered a full year profit warning, announcing that IASbet has revised its profit expectation for the year ended June 30, 2004 and expects to report a loss of $4 million over the period. He reported that remedial actions to alleviate a $3 million loss over the first half of the year had been successful, but some unfavorable betting results in May prevented the company from recovering its loss. Edge expects the company to be profitable next period. Meanwhile shares in the company have dropped from $1.92 to $.32 in the last year. Edge was also busy this week explaining that Kim Faithful, the bank manager that had stolen $17 million from the bank and then lost it to IASbet, had actually been quite a successful gambler and had won tens of millions of dollars over the course of five years before eventually losing it all. Edge said Faithful was no different than its other premium players, so the company had no reason to suspect him of stealing his funds.
Video Roulette -- Gaming & Entertainment Group, Inc, (GMEI) which provides server-based gaming systems and downloadable games for online casinos, has released a range of video roulette games and has completed developing a slot operating system for the amusement with prizes arcade market and for licensed betting offices in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company has traditionally developed Internet gaming systems, but its new central-server gaming platform now enables it to service the needs of land-based gaming operators seeking to deploy new electronic games and monitor their performance. GMEI estimates it will sell 300 devices in the second half of 2004, which should generate about $1.8 million for the company. A portion of the proceeds from the company's recent $2.45 million private placement will go toward deploying its new video roulette machines.
In New Zealand -- The New Zealand Olympic Committee rejected the TAB's proposal to allow wagering on the Olympic games in Athens this August. New Zealand's Olympic Committee said the International Olympic Committee "is clearly opposed to providing any opportunity for sports outcomes to be influenced by any form of betting on results." New Zealand's Gambling Act, which passed last year, takes effect tomorrow. The Lotteries Commission and the TAB are the only two gaming companies licensed under the bill to operate online games. Both companies, however, are restricted to selling only products that are normally sold through their retail networks. The Lotteries Commission is, thus, limited to selling only lottery products and the TAB, which has been online since 1998, may offer only sports, dog and horse betting.
Oberthur Gaming Technologies -- Lottery specialist Oberthur Gaming Technologies and Bell Canada have reached a servicing agreement that will enable Oberthur to offer infrastructure management and a wider range of solutions for Internet lottery games and applications. Bell Canada will provide Oberthur and its clients with rapid installation of technology, products specifically tailored to the needs of lottery organizations, stringent control measures offering the highest level of security, scalability to several simultaneous platforms, and around the clock service. Bell Canada will also host Web sites, manage servers and databases, and manage the entire information system.