Friday, May 23
Names and Faces -- Norman D. Inkster is joining the board of directors of dot com Entertainment Group Inc. , the company said Thursday. Inkster was most recently a partner with KPMG Forensic Inc. He is a former commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and president of Interpol, the international association of police headquartered in France. Perry Malone, dot com's CTO, is stepping down from his position on the board.
US News -- Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in mid-May introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate that would subject spammers to asset forfeiture and civil lawsuits under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The bill is aimed at spammers who seek money illegally using false routing information or fake return email addresses. It would also hit those who send spam to e-mail addresses whose owners have asked to opt-out. A similar bill was passed in the California Assembly yesterday. That bill, which now faces passage in the Assembly, would fine spammers $500 per message if they send unsolicited e-mail advertising. Under the bill, Internet marketers would have to ask recipient's permission before sending them spam.
Thursday, May 22
News from Asia -- Pagcor, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., is this month going to launch an online sports betting facility that will take bets on basketball games in the Philippines and the United States, the Manila Bulletin Online reports. The facility is already drawing fire from the country's lawmakers. Rep. Joseph Santiago, a member of Congress, is warning that children could be able to access the activity since it's on the Internet. "We presume anyone with access to a computer and the Internet can also access the betting facility," he said.
New Stuff -- Parlay Entertainment Ltd. on Wednesday announced the launch of two new bingo Web sites, Bingonanza.com and Bingos.com. The company said Bingos.com is a nod toward expanding Parlay's reach in Europe and Spanish-speaking countries. Bingonanza.com offers what Parlay is calling "premium blend bingo"--a mix of bingo, video poker, slots and pull-tabs. "We evaluated a number of software providers, and Parlay stood out from the crowd," said Enrique Dubois, the CEO of Bingos.com. "Parlay's proved track record, wide variety of games and the number of high-profile customers using their software made them the clear choice for us."
US News -- Youbet.com Inc. is saying it handled $2,048,486 on Saturday's Preakness, an 82 percent increase over race day's handle on last year's Preakness. The California-based company also said on race day the number of unique bettors increased 36 percent and the average wager increased 40 percent. ... The 25th Annual Financial Executives Gaming Forum is taking place Thursday and Friday at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. MGM Mirage CEO Terry Lanni and former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan are included in the list of keynote speakers. The Nevada Society of CPAs is co-sponsoring the event.
Legal Stuff -- The Mirage manager who failed to file thousands of money-laundering reports with Nevada gaming authorities was arrested at Las Vegas home on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. Christopher Morishita is facing four felony counts in connection with the failure to maintain money-laundering files. Police say criminal charges are unlikely in the case, although The Mirage could be fined $25,000 for each report that was not turned in, and regulators believe Morishita failed to submit up to 15,000 reports over a year and a half. Alan Feldman, spokesman for the MGM Mirage, said the manager and two other executives were fired over the failures.
News from Down Under -- Vanuatu is being removed from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's list of uncooperative tax havens after the country's announcement that it will institute new rules as part of its Harmful Tax Initiative.
Wednesday, May 21
Bit from Asia -- The Japanese government is going to stop offering cash remittances to North Korea in an effort to stop the flow of money spent on gambling by Japanese citizens to North Korea. The Times, the U.K.-based publication, reported today on its Web site that the pachinko machines that exist in arcades in Japan are a "lifeline" of cash to economically downtrodden North Korea. The paper states that it is an open secret that much of the pachinko money is made by Japanese Koreans with loyalty to North Korea.
US Tidbit -- Former Florida State quarterback Adrian Mcpherson may not be able to return to college sports even if he is given an acquittal on his misdemeanor gambling charge, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. Charles Ehrhardt, the chairman of the FSU Athletic Board, said the National Collegiate Athletic Association could still bar him from playing even if he is cleared of wrongdoing in connection with charges of illegal gambling. He also faces charges on alleged check stealing. "I don't know what the NCAA will do, but I think that in certain areas (the association) could well say that despite the fact that someone was acquitted (of a criminal charge), they could still find that someone committed prohibited behavior," Ehrhardt said.
Tuesday, May 20
Making Deals -- Chartwell Technology Inc. said it has signed an agreement with Supreme Odds Ltd. Chartwell will be developing a non-download, Flash-based online gambling system for its new licensee, a division of Leisure Spread Ltd. of Ireland. Conor Foley, managing director of Supreme Odds, said his company chose Chartwell because of the quality of the Chartwell platform. "Having evaluated a number of online casino providers, we concluded that Chartwell was 'head and shoulders' above the rest in terms of functionality, security and reliability," he said.
Legal Stuff -- Starting June 1, the legal gambling age in Arizona will be 21, up from 18, due to a law passed by the state's legislature in 2000. The Tucson Citizen reported that area tracks expect only a small financial loss because of the change.
UK News -- The Telegraph reported recently that Sporting Options, a U.K.-based person-to-person betting company, is planning on floating on the Alternative Investment Market. The company has been around since 2000 and was founded by Kevin Griffiths and Robert Byrne.
Monday, May 19
Making Deals -- Sinsational Intertainment Inc. announced last week that it is migrating its casino gambling Web sites to IQ Ludorum software from World Gaming software. The company, which owns cypersportsbook.com, said its clientele will now have the opportunity to offer new services, including race betting from more than 70 tracks, increased sports betting, Java-based casino games and lower minimum wagers. In a press release, Sinsational stated that it "has been displeased with the World Gaming software."
New Stuff -- fluxx.com AG, a German provider of lottery and betting services, announced last week that it has a deal with AOL to provide a lottery and betting platform that is tailored to the Internet service provider. The service will be promoted by AOL as "AOL lottery service provided by fluxx.com," and fluxx.com will develop and operate the product.