A new gaming site out of Norway has raised the eyebrows of officials from a Danish amusement park baring the same name.
On Jan. 18, Norwegian Internet gaming operator Norskespill.no launched its new gaming site at www.tivoli.no. The site, which initially offers the card game 21, Wheel of Fortune, and a scratch-card game, is illustrated as the entrance of the worldwide known attraction park Tivoli, in the center of Copenhagen, Denmark.
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"We are not aware of this new Web site, and we will investigate this matter further."
- Finn Sture Madsen
Counsel for Tivoli Denmark
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Naturally, one would presume that a branding partnership had been formed between the two groups, however, prior to being contacted by IGN, Tivoli didn't even know the site existed.
"There is no relation at all," stated Finn Sture Madsen, legal counsel for Tivoli Denmark. "We are not aware of this new Web site, and we will investigate this matter further. We have not given any permission to use Tivoli trademarks, designs or illustrations to norskespill.no. We will now make a legal investigation of this matter, notably if this new venture in any way can be mistaken for Tivoli in Copenhagen, or if they, in any way, are violating our trademarks."
Established in 1843, Tivoli is one of the world's oldest amusement parks. Its Web site is located at www.tivoli.dk (www.tivoligardens.com in English).
Norskespill.no was founded in 2001 for the specific purpose of establishing and managing an Internet gaming operation on behalf of the leading Norwegian humanitarian organizations.
A coalition of 10 of the leading humanitarian organizations* in Norway holds a 51 percent share of the company. The remaining 49 percent is owned by Cee.tv AS**, a Norwegian company specializing in interactive digital TV and content development. Norskespill's ambition is to become an established gaming operator in the Norwegian market and to offer Norwegian players safe, entertaining and interactive games for the benefit of Norwegian humanitarian causes.
The company holds the exclusive license in Norway for Internet-based instant lottery-type games. It's one of three test licenses for Internet wagering in Norway; the other two are for betting and lottery (Norsk Tipping) and pari-mutuel wagering (Norsk Rikstoto).
*Den Norske Kreftforening (NorwegianCancer Society), Flyktningerådet (Refugees), Landsforeningen for Hjerte- og Lungesyke (Heart and Lung Diseases), Nasjonalforeningen for folkehelsen (People's Health), Norges Blindeforbund (For the blind people), Norges Handikapforbund (For the handicapped people), Norges Røde Kors (Norwegian Red Cross), Norsk Folkehjelp, Redd Barna (Save the Children), Redningsselskapet (Coast Guard).
**Cee.tv AS was founded in the summer of 2000 by four former top management executives at TV 2, Norway's largest commercial television station. the company is owned by Telenor Broadband Service (telenor.com), Telenor Venture (televenture.no), Møller-Investor (moller.no), Alma Media (almamedia.fi), eScienza (escienza.com) and the founders (cee.tv).