Issue N48, 2007
December 19, 2007
Turkish Authorities Fine Online Gambling Players
When the Turkish authorities passed its infamous gambling laws in February, 2007, it closed the doors to all foreign operators, as well as any other domestic companies that were not ‘authorized’ by the state. Essentially, this meant that only very few companies could provide online gambling services to locals, including the partially state-owned IDDAA that covers the majority of the country’s horse-racing and online lottery services. Many successful foreign operators, such as the Austrian B-Win, were forced to lose a significant portion of their client bases as a result. The new laws were reminiscent of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) that was passed by the Bush administration in the United States in October 2006.
This week, Turkish authorities announced via the local press that anybody caught gambling at unauthorized sites would be fined 100 New Turkish Liras per game (approximately $85). They also said that in a blitz operation, they had managed to identify over 3,500 players who had played thousands of games between them. It was announced that these players would be fined according to the strict Turkish gambling laws.
UK Sites Cannot Promote Foreign Poker Tourneys, Says Gambling Commission
The United Kingdom Gambling Commission, set up to enforce the new gambling laws that came into effect earlier this year, has announced that UK-licensed poker sites will not be allowed to offer prizes that promote foreign sites. This included incentives such as seats into poker tournaments that would take place outside of the UK gambling jurisdiction. The reason for this is that only authorized companies may advertise in the UK. By promoting foreign poker tournaments through UK licensees, these sites, theoretically, would be breaking the law.
Only online gambling sites that operate within the area demarcated as the European Economic Area may apply for UK licenses. These include areas such as Gibraltar and Malta. In addition, the United Kingdom has also included two other areas in its “White List” of authorized areas, namely Alderney and the Isle of Mann. Despite the fact that the latter two are not within the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom recognizes the fact that they have a high standard of licensing criteria and do a lot to combat underage gambling and crime.
WTO Delays its Antigua-US Online Gambling Case
The World Trade Organization disappointed the twin-state Caribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda after it failed to deliver a ruling over an ongoing online gambling dispute, despite last Friday’s deadline. The United States lost the case brought against it by Antigua after it was proved that it failed to uphold its commitments on regional trade markets. Antigua claimed that the US’s policy of banning foreign casino operators from offering their services to local US markets were harming its country’s economy. Antigua brought compensation claims against the US to the tune of $3.4-billion and the US countered with a significantly less $500,000. Antigua demanded that an arbitrary panel decide on the sum and, as stated, the ruling was due to be delivered last week. Representatives for Antigua were told that the delay was technical in nature and that the ruling would be made public at a later date.
As a result of Antigua’s win over the US in the WTO case, many other countries and regions have made claims against the US. The European Union signed a compromise deal with the country on Friday, after months of negotiations. The contract stated that European traders would be allowed to enter the US market in other sectors, such as warehousing, postal service and research and development, as a compromise to the fact that European online gambling companies were losing out on revenue by being banned from the US industry. The European gambling community was said to be disappointed with the deal, despite the fact that the EU Commission promised to continue to pursue the issue of changing the US gambling laws.
PartyGaming Appoints Four New Directors
PartyGaming, the online software giant, has announced the appointment of four new directors as it struggles to balance its finances. PartyGaming’s financial report for the first half of 2007 saw a drastic loss $47.35-million, compared to the previous year’s profits of over $300-million in the same time period. Two of the new directors include a one-time financial director of the National Grid and UK politician and life peer, Lord Moonie. PartyGaming also appointed two non-executive directors, John Davy and Emilio Gomez, to represent some of the company’ shareholders.
PartyGaming has been obviously affected by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and is still waiting to see whether the United States authorities will be pressing charges against the company for operating after the UIGEA came into effect last October. Not wanting to face the same penalties as those imposed on Neteller, the online gambling banking service, PartyGaming is cooperating with the authorities and hopes to put this episode behind it and concentrate on strengthening its ties in other world markets.