New Extortion -- DDoS attackers targeting U.K. sports book operator Blue Square have added a new twist to their routine. The attackers warned the company that if they don't pay up within two days, bulk e-mails containing child pornography in the company's name would be distributed. The extortion attempt began on Monday with a DDoS attack followed by an e-mail demanding that Blue Square pay 7,000 Euros (much less than the amount demanded by the gang busted in July in Russia) or face a more intense attack. On Tuesday the company received the threat of child pornography spam through a phone call. "The thing that has distinguished this is the seriousness of the threat," Peter Pederson, chief technology officer at Blue Square, explained. "He's threatened to send mass email containing child porn from Blue Square accounts. That changes the stakes of these things from being apparently financial extortion to something that has a different kind of impact." William Hill also came under a DDoS attack yesterday and the British Tote and Sportingbet were attacked on Thursday, but none of those sites received threats regarding child pornography.
First Class Cyberslot -- Online games and slot machines Web site Cyberslotz.co.uk has launched "First Class," a bingo-like game that can pay up to £7,000 on a £2 bet. After a stake is placed, 46 balls are drawn from a pool of 90 and are automatically matched to the numbers on the five-by-five-line bingo card, the center of which is a "wild" auto-hit every time. To win, the balls drawn must form one of 17 winning combinations and patterns on the card including verticals, horizontals, full card, the outside box, inside box, cross pattern, I-pattern, H-pattern and X-pattern.
Japanese Soccer Lottery -- Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology hopes to raise sales of soccer lottery tickets by increasing the chance of winning a prize and by making tickets available for purchase over the Internet beginning in April 2006. Totocalcio tickets went on sale in March 2001 for 100 yen, giving players the opportunity to bet win, lose or draw on 13 league games--making about 1.6 million possible combinations. A top prize of 100 million yen is awarded for correct answers in all 13 games, and if no correct answer is submitted, the prize carries over to the next rounds of games. Ticket sales amounted to 64.3 billion yen in 2001, but the figure has since declined to only about one-fifth of that total, due mostly to the soccer lottery's reputation as being un-winnable. Also plunging alongside the sale of soccer lottery tickets is the amount of funding to sports organizations and facilities.
Declaratory Judgment -- The U.S. Department of Justice has requested and received an extension for the deadline in which it is to respond to Casino City's filing for declaratory judgment regarding its right to carry advertisements for online gambling sites. The new deadline is Oct. 29. The government is expected to file a motion to dismiss the claim.
ITV Campaign -- ITV has launched an ad campaign in England to promote its interactive service, "ITVi Anytime." The campaign features ads on all ITV channels and encourages viewers to press the red button at any time to access ITVi's interactive services. Among the variety of content offered through ITVi is Sportech's Littlewoods Bet Direct and Littlewoods Game On, which provide special bets and games themed around popular programs such as "X Factor" and "This Morning."
IG in Ireland -- Financial spread betting company IG Index has decided to proactively target the Irish market. The company has begun advertising in several national newspapers to introduce its wide-ranging services.