Data Hub -- A recent study from In-Stat/MDR informs Internet Service Providers that they could be missing out of millions of pounds in revenue from online gaming. "The biggest risk to any company even marginally affected by online gaming is to dismiss it out of hand or put plans on the backburner until they think it matures," said Eric Mantion, a senior analyst with the research group.
New Stuff -- Person-to-person betting Web sites are such a success that online bingo operator Gala Group is now offering a P2P casino game for galacasino.co.uk. The game, called Winning Circles, was developed by Carlton Interactive and was launched in December. "We have a raft of new games in development," said Nigel Willis, Gala's director of interactive gaming. "It's not hard to attract an audience with a good quality casino on the Web. But now we're developing new content to differentiate us." Since its February purchase by private equity firms Candover and Cinven, Gala has vowed to step up its marketing efforts for the online gaming sites by spending up to £150,000 on marketing.
Names and Faces -- The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has appointed its first non-American as its leader. Paul Twomey, an Australian, will join the organization on March 27. Twomey is the managing director of an Internet consulting agency, Argo Pacific. He takes the place of Stuart Lynn, who has lead ICANN for two years. Twomey joined ICANN in 2001 when he was elected the chairman of the group's Government Advisory Committee.