Quoteworthy -- "Dear Minister, congratulations on your appointment as Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. It is a big job but you have very small shoes to fill. Your predecessor left an unfortunate legacy and very many problems, which only astute policy-making can solve." -- Graeme Philipson, writer for smh.com.au. His words were intended for Darryl Williams, who will replace Richard Alston as Australian Minister for Communications, Information Technology, and the Arts.
SportOdds -- According to an inside source, Australian bookmaker SportOdds has obtained an expedited appeal hearing before the full bench of the federal court next Monday. The hearing was originally scheduled for late November. SportOdds is appealing a decision that denied its motion to invalidate restrictions on advertising and publishing odds in New South Wales.
Stanley Hill? -- The London Telegraph reports rumors of a merger between Stanley Leisure and William Hill, both of whom experienced a rise in share price yesterday, with Stanley Leisure rising 3.5p to finish at 352.5p and William Hill rising 4.5p to finish at 335p.
Gambelli News The European Court of Justice is scheduled to give its verdict Nov. 6 in the criminal proceedings against Piergiorgio Gambelli, who along with 100 other defendants ran data transfer centers in Italy that were linked to an English bookmaker. Criminal charges were brought against Gambelli because such activity in Italy is reserved by federal law for the state or state-licensed undertakings. The decision will have a huge bearing on the future of cross border gaming provisions in the EU.
Sweden Online -- Svenska Spel, Sweden's state-owned gaming and lottery company, has launched Internet versions of the instant scratch-card games popularly known in Sweden as Triss, Tia, Skrap-Bingo and Skrap-Pyramid, as well as Internet versions of three new bingo games. All of the games use Flash technology, and the bingo games are offered in both single and multi-player versions. Developed by Boss Media, which also provides Svenska Spel's casino software, the games are located at www.svenskaspel.se.