Debate -- Dublin-based betting exchange BETDAQ on Oct. 29 will host a debate on the growth of exchange betting and the issues surrounding it. The event will be chaired by BBC horse racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght, and panel members will include Clive Hawkswood from the UK Department for Culture, Media, and Sport, Hilary Stewart-Jones, a partner at law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner and former head of Legal services at Ladbrokes and Rob Hartnett, public affairs director of BETDAQ. Representatives from major sporting authorities will also attend. Some questions to be addressed: how to curb potential charges of corruption, how to balance the need for integrity with basic consumer rights, how to address the demands on governing bodies to protect their sport and what the evolution of new betting media might mean in the future.
Skill Games -- The Associated Press recently featured an article about two new gaming networks that enable players to wager on their own performance as they compete against others in head-to-head games like Quake and Unreal. YouPlayGames, which obtained 18,000 subscribers in its first four months, lets gamers decide upon a predetermined amount that a player wins each time he kills an enemy and loses each time he dies. Players can also win money by scoring high enough on the leader boards. Ultimate Arena, which has obtained 20,000 active players this month, lets players agree upon any entry fee of $1-$20 to be collected in a pool before game play. The pool is later paid out to the winner (minus 15 percent commission that goes to Ultimate Arena). Users for both networks must already own the full-version of the games they wish to play for cash. The networks are legal in most states because the activities constitute skill rather than chance…. CYOP, a developer and provider of online skill-gaming solutions and services, says that it has reached a user-base of 160,000 members on its CrediPlay Network through its www.skillarcade.com game site and 220 affiliates. SkillArcade.com, the central portal, lets players compete in games of skill against other players and in tournaments for real cash and prizes. CYOP's proprietary online transaction application, CrediPlay, charges a network maintenance fee for each game played over the Internet.
Betex -- U.K.-based betting exchange Betfair today announced the launch of its new international software platform, Betex, which uses a more efficient and easier-to-use interface. The site, now accessible in traditional Chinese and Mandarin, is localizable to punters in foreign districts. Within a few months punters will be able to place global bets in 12 different languages.
Wireless Virus -- "They're getting to a point where the networks are becoming more intelligent. There are more places within a network, within a PC, within a wireless network, that you can actually break-in and so it's an increasingly difficult job to actually keep those people out."-- Chris Bray from IBM, telling CNN why the number of potential threats to wireless technology is increasing. According to CNN, the wireless world is vulnerable to the same sorts of viruses and worms that attack computer software.
e-Patriot -- Last week the New York Times published an article that speculated that the PATRIOT Act could threaten the growth of e-commerce. A section of the act, which allows the FBI to obtain a court order to obtain any information from businesses and citizens that it deems necessary to solving a terrorism or espionage case. The New York Times interviewed a bookseller who has stopped obtaining a great deal of information from its customers as a result of the PATRIOT provisions. The Times speculates that many e-commerce companies will soon be doing the same thing.