A Helping Hand -- The Interactive Gaming Council, a trade organization for the Internet gambling industry, said today that it has revamped its problem gaming assistance program, Helping Hand. The program provides information for people who are looking for help for compulsive gambling, including information about filters to keep children away from gambling Web sites. All IGC members are encouraged to display the Helping Hand logo on their sites.
Legal Stuff -- A federal court in Oklahoma has dismissed Multimedia Games Inc. 's complaint against the National Indian Gaming Commission regarding the Multimedia product MegaNanza being classified as a Class III game. Multimedia had wanted the commission to brand it a Class II game, meaning that it could be played on Native American lands with out government approval. Judge James H. Payne ruled that the court did not have jurisdiction to decide the case and that companies such as Multimedia
don't have standing to argue against game classifications. ... George Atiyeh's trial over Internet gambling charges began in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Atiyeh is facing charges of operating an Internet-based sports betting ring from Allentown, Pa., Antigua and Quebec that accepted $1 million in bets. In March 2001, Atiyeh's brothers, Dennis and Joseph Atiyeh, were found not guilty of the same charges. Paul Mansfield, a federal prosecutor, said George Atiyeh broke U.S. law
by trying to operate part of the ring from Pennsylvania. Atiyeh's lawyer, Thomas Bergstrom, said no bets were accepted by Atiyeh in Pennsylvania.
New Stuff -- CYOP Systems International Inc. said today that it will begin trading shares on the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). The company's stock symbol will be CYOI. CYOP's cornerstone product is
CrediPlay, which is an application that supports a financial transaction network for online gaming.