Antiguan Tax -- Antigua and Barbuda's parliament was scheduled to begin debating a new tax measure for online betting companies today. The Antiguan Sun recently reported that an unnamed betting company was preparing to leave the country en route for Kahnawake due to fears of a new tax structure, but Kay McDonald, director of off-shore gaming for the islands, stated today in the Sun that no company is leaving. "We still have an advantage in this country for gaming companies because there is no corporate tax," McDonald stated. "Also, gaming companies pay out dividends and these dividends are not going to be taxed. Under the income tax act, dividends are among revenue areas that are exempt from the new measure." She added, "One jurisdiction with which we share a lot of the same license fees is Kahnawake, so we already have persons licensed in Antigua that also have a license out of Kahnawake, so that is not new or strange." However, the Sun also quoted McDonald's predecessor, and current spokesperson for the Antiguan Off-shore Gaming Association, Ron Maginley as saying that many members of the industry felt "the tax rate proposed by the government may remove the cost benefit of conducting some portions of operations within Antigua."
Orange Casino -- British cellular network operator Orange will make a casino.co.uk-branded mobile casino available through its Orange World portal in April. Casino.co.uk's owner, Gaming Corporation, will share a portion of the revenue from the mobile poker operation with Orange, and users will be able to play for fun or real money.
Betradar -- The Deutschen Fussball-Bundes (German Football Federation-DFB) and Bundesliga (German Football League-DFL) have signed a rolling contract with betting security company Betradar, whereby Betradar will monitor betting in German football. Betradar's monitoring and supervision products allow companies to compare their odds and starting times to the market averages and immediately informs them if there are any crucial differences. German soccer has been rocked in recent months by the revelation that referee Dominik Marks has accepted money from the Croatian mafia to fix several matches.
Spanish Data -- Spain's Liga de Futbol Profesional (Professional Football League-LFP) is asking Internet betting companies to cease their activities in Spain. According to a recent press release issued by the league, online betting companies have been asked to "stop any activity in Spain that is not authorized according to standing Spanish laws," including accepting wagers and using data, results and scheduling information relating to the Spanish football championship. "These companies are using, for their own benefit, data that they do not own, without authorization or payment to the organizers or participants in the league," the league's statement read. "We expressly reserve the right to take any and all possible legal actions."
Streaming Casino -- Malta-based gaming company Vegas Interactive has licensed software from CWC Gaming (CasinoWebcam) to launch LondonCasino.com, which enables players to gamble with actual--not computerized--cards, dealers and tables by streaming live audio and video from an actual casino floor in Costa Rica. The no-download, Flash-based software is CWC's second-generation gaming platform and the first to support audio capabilities. By streaming actual casino games from a real land-based location, LondonCasino.com hopes to eliminate customers' distrust of the random number generator-based games.