Anti-Gambling Bill -- A deputy in China's National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, has presented a stand-alone bill that would explicitly prohibit government officials and executives of state-owned enterprises from gambling and would impose heavier penalties for violators. The Ministry of Public Security, however, has opposed the bill, preferring instead to revise the existing criminal code to make it more effective. An amendment to the code could provide more serious punishments for offenders and also expand it reach to include gambling done via Internet or outside the mainland. . . . The Sunshine Companion Center in Beijing is about to become the country's first center to treat children and teens who suffer from Internet Addiction Disorder, a problem that is believed to affect an estimated five million of the country's youth. The establishment of the center is part of the government's plan to eliminate what it believes to be social evils, like gambling and pornography.
Marketing Campaign -- Gambling.com, a search engine and portal for online gambling sites, has enlisted the services of Casino Agency, a marketing and consulting firm for online and traditional gambling companies. Gambling.com hopes to raise its profile by allowing Casino Agency to handle its £350,000 through-the-line marketing campaign. Earlier this year Casino Agency was involved in a deal that made InterCasino.com a sponsor to Sky One's broadcast of American TV series Las Vegas.
Sportingbet Bingo -- The U.S. division of Sportingbet has launched a new website at BingoBilly.com using software from Internet bingo solutions provider Parlay Entertainment. Andy May, Sportingbet's director of strategic marketing, explained that deal gives his company a "chance to participate in this rapidly expanding sector of the gaming industry, and gives us the ability to further broaden our player base demographic to women and gamers that enjoy Bingo and additional soft games."
Quoteworthy -- "When we receive money from a client, we're unable to assess the client's state of mind, we're unable to assess the client's culpability, we're unable to assess much about the client other than an Internet message."
--Robert Edge, CEO of Australian bookmaker International All Sports (IAS).
IAS is being sued by Australia's Commonwealth Bank after one of its managers, Kim Faithfull, stole A$17 million from the bank in order to gamble with IAS. The bank claims that IAS should have known that Faithfull was only a modest bank manager who should not have had access to such large sums of money. IAS is not only defending itself but has also launched a counterclaim in federal court, arguing that that it can list "19 specific instances where the CBA has failed to protect its assets and those of its shareholders."
Responsibility -- New Jersey Assemblywoman Joan Voss is not alone in thinking that cable networks like the Travel Channel and ESPN that broadcast poker tournaments should make some sort of effort to combat problem gambling. Voss argues that the networks should be held responsible for side effects like juvenile gambling addictions, and she points out that New Jersey's casinos contribute $600,00 annually to anti-compulsive gambling programs. Yesterday Voss proposed that New Jersey could begin billing a surcharge to the state's cable providers if the networks refuse to cooperate. Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, agrees with Voss that the broadcast media has been irresponsible in its airing of gambling-related shows, noting that "they have almost completely failed to provide any sort of health warnings, public service announcements or responsible gambling tips." Whyte says that for two years he has been trying to get cable networks to air information about his agency's help line.
Customer Relations -- British betting company Ladbrokes has hired two Omnicom-owned companies to provide a customer relationship management system for Ladbrokes' online and telephone customers. Agency.com will deal with the interactive side of Ladbrokes' business while WWAV Rapp Collins will work on Ladbrokes' offline communications and data strategy.