Betting on Broadcast -- Interactive TV solutions provider Two Way TV and I-gaming software provider Zone4Play have teamed up to offer a fixed-odds gaming service that will be available across three platforms--iTV, mobile phones and the Internet. The service is unique in that it uses a live broadcast television channel called the "Winner Channel," giving players the ability to bet on the live action. The Winner Channel launched on the Telewest cable network last week and will launch on NTL next week. The service will soon be deployed as well on the Internet and mobile networks so that players can use any of the three platforms to bet on the live action with a single account. Two Way TV runs and operates the Winner Channel, while Zone4Play provides the underlying technology. . . . Zone4Play CEO Shimon Citron recently told Business Week that the company plans to open a U.S. office within the next three months. He also said the company is working with EchoStar to launch a bingo game that will enable TV viewers in Nevada and a few other states to compete against one another.
Welcome Aboard -- The Association of Remote Gambling Operators (ARGO), a trade body of European online gambling operators that was founded in August 2004, has welcomed Gibraltar-based 32Red as its newest member. 32Red operates a casino and poker room.
Swedish Poker -- Swedish newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet have reported that Sweden's Lottery Inspection Authority (LIA) might begin investigating whether any online poker companies that are registered abroad are operating from within the country. According to LIA spokesperson Jessica Jeppsson, "We are debating whether we should report tip-offs and our own discoveries to the police." Svenska Spel, the state-run gaming operator, is the only company authorized to operate gambling games in Sweden. Last week Svenska Spel applied to the government for a license to offer poker games online.
Jersey Debate -- Lawmakers in Jersey--a British dependency located in the British Channel near France--today debated whether they should relax the island's gambling laws. If plans to liberalize Jersey's gambling laws are approved, the island might soon welcome online gambling as well as a land-based casino, bingo and a lottery. A casino proposal was last debated and rejected in 2003.
Quoteworthy -- "The state monopoly, which is established by the State Lottery Treaty as well as by the individual state laws (in conjunction with Art. 284 of the German Criminal Code (StGB)) must be penetrated. The indication that the above-mentioned laws are incompatible should not only be overcome in individual court decisions. I would consider effective media publicity--at a national as well as an international level--to be another critical issue."
- Dr. Wulf Hambach, a media and gambling law attorney who recently founded the firm Hambach and Hambach with his brother, Claus Hambach. The above statement is Dr. Hambach's response to the question "What are the critical legal issues at present in Germany for your clients and for other foreign providers?" on Web site ISA-Casinos.de.
CYOP's Skills -- Online skill games provider CYOP Systems International Inc. has signed an agreement to begin licensing its CrediPlay pay to play skill-gaming software platform to Wasinger Tech, which runs the eWoss.com search portal. CYOP recently added 90 new games to its software suite and announced that it will add several Atari games to its offering. . . . Last week CYOP announced the appointment of Randy Peterson to its board of directors. Peterson, a retired police detective who also invented a number of skill games, will assist the company in research, product development and forming strategic partnerships.