Friday, Sep. 19
New Operator -- The Gaming Channel, a new UK gaming operator, has launched onto the scene by buying the popular iTV games channel Avago. Next, The Gaming Channel plans to develop more television channels and to extend service to Internet and mobile applications. The Gaming Channel will also provide 'white label' gambling services to third parties through iTV, the Internet, and mobile systems. Shareholders of the privately-funded entity include Freeserve founder, Peter Wilkinson, and former Director of New Media at BskyB, John Swingewood. The man who will head The Gaming Channel, Damian Cope, co-founded Blue Square and later worked with Hilton and then Rank.
Quoteworthy -- "The industry can wait no longer. The responsible segment of the online gaming industry has been calling on politicians and gaming regulators to include regulation in the debate on online gaming since the late 1990’s. In absence of global standards for online gaming, eCOGRA’s moving in a direction where the industry should be headed by addressing much needed player protections, and offering an avenue for responsible online gaming software suppliers and their licensed operators to differentiate themselves," said Andrew Beveridge, CEO of the newly formed independent organization, e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (e-COGRA). Beveridge spoke at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas this week and promised that his organization would provide online players with high levels of assurance of fair, honest, and responsible gaming.
Spam Laws -- If a bill that was tabled in Australia's federal parliament on Thursday becomes law, the government could fine commercial organizations that send bulk unsolicited e-mail more the A$1 million per day. The bill has support from the Australian Direct Marketing Association and major political parties and is expected to have a smooth passage through parliament…. Also, the UK announced today that it will enact laws to prohibit unsolicited bulk e-mail unless the recipient has requested it. Cookies will also be regulated, and violators can be subject to fines of up to 5,000 pounds. The legislation will take effect December 11.
ROK Lord -- Lord Mancroft, an executive on The Lotteries Council and Chairman of Inter Lotto in the UK, has joined mobile lottery provider, ROK, as deputy chairman. Mancroft will advise the company in delivering lotteries, scratchcards, sweepstakes and other games over mobile phones in Britain and internationally. ROK has developed software than allows gamers to enter state lotteries via SMS texting from mobile handsets that can serve as lottery terminals.
Thursday, Sep. 18
Dealing -- Today Interlott Technologies, Inc., a U.S.-based manufacturer of ITVMs and other high-security vending products, announced that it will be acquired for $9.00 per share by GTECH Holdings Corp., a global information technology company whose core market is in the lottery industry.... Two gaming law firms, Joelson Wilson from the UK and Cooper Levenson from the U.S., have partnered to create a team of highly experienced and reputable advisers with experience on both sides of the Atlantic. The newly formed association considers itself a global ‘one-stop shop’ for legal gaming issues.
GamCare -- Paul Bellringer, CEO of UK problem gambling charity GamCare since its founding in 1997, says he will leave the company at the end of the year. He plans to continue charity work in a freelance capacity.
No Survivor -- BetWWTS.com has suspended betting on the newest installment of Survivor before the first episode airs tonight. Several newly opened accounts in Vancouver have placed a deluge of wagers on the same Survivor contestant to win, which indicates that someone may be betting on inside information.
Wednesday, Sep. 17
Mob Scene -- PrimaPoker.com will sponsor London's Hendon Mob of Barny Boatman, Ram Vaswani, Ross Boatman, and Joe Beevers as they embark on a global tour of top-ranked poker tournaments. The tour begins with the Four Queens festival in Las Vegas on September 23, and will stop at London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Helsinki, and more before it reaches its final destination at Melbourne's Crown Casino in January.
Chimera Files -- Nevada-based Chimera Technology Corp., an e-commerce services company and Internet gaming software provider and licensor, today filed its full and complete business profile for public records with Standard & Poor's, which is a securities manual for the "Blue Sky" Standard Manual Exemption for secondary trading in more than 35 states. Chimera is currently publicly traded and quoted on the Over-the-Counter Pink Sheets under the symbol CMRD.
Space Invaders -- The UK's National Lottery has added Space Invaders and Safecracker to the list of pay to play games at http://www.national-lottery.co.uk. Both games offer up to £5,000 in prize money.
Smart Card -- British Telecommunications plc is launching its Biometric Smart Card technology at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas this week. The cards, which use biometric testing to authenticate fingerprints as gamers enter a casino, allow players to buy gaming credit and to issue and redeem gaming chips without exchanging cash on the casino floor.
Betting in Turkey -- Inralot has set up a subsidiary called Libero SA in Turkey. By the end of 2003 the company will begin offering sports betting services over mobile phones, digital TV, call centers, and the Internet. Libero will use the network of mobile operator Turkcell.
Isle of Man -- On September 10, the Isle of Man's Department of Trade and Industry appointed John Gilmore as E-Gaming Ambassador. Gilmore's job will be to promote and advise on the development of the Isle as a center for e-gaming, as well as to investigate how it can remain a Tier 1 jurisdiction and meet the requirements of the online gambling industry.
Tuesday, Sep. 16
Spam Index -- Clearswift has analyzed thousands of unsolicited e-mails on a weekly basis to compile its third Spam Index. It found that spam from healthcare, gambling, scams, and porn sources are on the decline, but spam for direct products-- most specifically Arnold Schwarzenegger T-shirts, J-Lo engagement rings, and life-size dolls- are on the rise. The Spam Index for August is as follows: In August, the results of the Spam Index were as follows: direct products 30.8%; finance 17.2%; gambling 6.2%; healthcare 21.2%; porn/profanity 13.6%; scams 2%; spam related 3.6% and other 5.4%.
E-Commerce -- Newmediazero.com reports that over 8,000 European retailers have signed up to Visa's global Verified by Visa service, which claims to protect against e-commerce fraud cases.
E-mail Lists -- Newmediazero.com also reports that StoneShot, an e-mail marketing agency in the UK, has compiled a survey that says that 63 percent of IT companies use e-mailing lists that will become illegal on October 31 when a directive on privacy and electronic communications becomes law. The survey also shows that 70 percent of marketing managers in the technology industry are not fully aware of the new law and only 37 percent of them use opt-in mailing lists that will still be legal after the law is enacted.
Monday, Sep. 15
Gambling Bill -- Legislators in the Republic of South Africa want to pass a new gambling bill that will repeal its National Gambling Act of 1996. On July 30th, the Department of Trade and Industry published a final draft of the bill, which introduces a number of new policies for the regulation of casinos, racing, and wagering, but for now explicitly prohibits online gaming. However, the Board will "establish a committee to consider and report on national policy to regulate interactive gambling within the Republic, and may include with its report any draft national legislation that the committee may consider advisable." After considering the report, the Minister "must introduce legislation in Parliament to regulate interactive gambling within the Republic."
Intralot -- Intralot USA has promoted John Pittman to Vice President of Marketing. He will coordinate all marketing activities for lottery customers in the U.S. as well as corporate marketing for Intralot USA, which is a subsidiary of Intralot S.A., a Greece-based developer of integrated gaming systems that provides multiple services related to the design, development, operation, and support of games worldwide.
Dealing -- Las Vegas From Home.com will jointly license its poker products alongside games by Real Time Gaming, and the combined programs will be offered worldwide by Real Time's master licensing agent, Montana Overseas. LVH says it is also negotiating with several other well-known Internet gaming entities to license their products.
Betfair News -- The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has upheld the complaint of an undisclosed Essex-based company in ruling that Betfair may not use ads that read "At Betfair you get the best odds" and "Place bets at better odds." The ASA also ruled against Betfair at the end of May, after William Hill had issued a complaint for Betfair's use of ads that read, "You get better odds at Betfair."…. Betfair has announced that it is offering hole-by-hole betting for every match that is played in the Solheim Cup golf event.