IS IT LEGAL?

Every month Euroslot updates you on the latest news affecting gaming policy and regulation around the world.

BELGIUM
Belgium has issued new online sports betting licences to Napoleon Games and GoldenBet, while Luckygames has been licensed to offer online arcade games.

EUROPE
Three trade bodies – European Lotteries, the European Casino Association and the European Pari Mutuel Association – have sent an open letter to Michel Barnier, the European commissioner for the internal market and services, warning him that the EC’s recent action plan on online gambling could fail to properly protect consumers. The letter says cross-border illegal gaming must be tackled and strict rules are needed for “the forms of gambling that are the most dangerous in terms of specific risks in terms of fraud, money laundering and addiction”.
The groups also advocate that advertising for illegal gaming should be banned across the EU.

FRANCE
Jean-François Vilotte, president of the French e-gaming regulator ARJEL, has said that the body now backs cross-border pooled liquidity for online poker, after lower-than-expected demand from players for French sites.

GERMANY
A German federal court has ruled that the treaty on gambling recently agreed by all 16 states cannot co-exist with the differing regime in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, and has asked the Court of Justice of the European Union to rule on the issue.
The new cross-state agreement allows only 20 sports betting licences, and bans online casino and poker games, although opponents say it breaches EU free trade laws. Schleswig-Holstein, however, enacted local legislation allowing online casinos before signing up to the national treaty, and is continuing to issue new casino licences; recent recipients include Betway, Merkur and Unibet.

GREECE
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that OPAP’s gaming monopoly in Greece is illegal. After considering a case filed by Sportingbet, Stanleybet International and William Hill, the court said that EU law does not permit countries to grant exclusive rights to operators unless that serves the public interest.
The Remote Gambling Association’s onslaught on Greece is also continuing, most recently with a complaint to the European Commission about enforcement measures such as site blocking, payment blocking and fines, introduced to protect OPAP’s online gambling monopoly. The RGA believes that they are illegal and unworkable, and calls on the Greek government to regulate an open market in e-gaming.
Clive Hawkswood, CEO of the association, said: “The measures that the Greek government want to introduce have not worked in other jurisdictions such as Norway, where the regulator has admitted that its online payments ban has not been a success, as research showed more than half of Internet gamblers now play as often as they did before the prohibition. Furthermore, there is no legal justification for blocking of Internet service providers and payment service providers.”

HUNGARY
The Hungarian government has submitted an amendment to its 1991 Gambling Act to the European Commission, proposing a gross profits tax (GPT) of 20 percent for licensed operators of e-gaming and online sports betting.
It is also proposing that operators pay a concession fee of HUF100m (€340,000) for each type of game they offer, in order to obtain a five-year licence. State-owned operator Szerencsejatek would be granted a licence automatically, with the government deciding on all other applications.
The Remote Gambling Association has criticised the concession fee, calling it “unrealistically high”, while welcoming the GPT model.

MACAU
Some casinos in Macau may be allowed to increase the number of live gaming tables they operate this year.

SPAIN
Spain has opened a consultation process on online exchange betting and slots, to help the regulator determine whether it should permit new kinds of e-gaming products.

SWITZERLAND
The Swiss government is poised to liberalise online gaming, although details have yet to be determined. Draft legislation is expected in the second half of the year.

UK
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has responded to the cross-party select committee report The Gambling Act 2005: A Bet Worth Taking?, published last summer. Among the key points:
• While acknowledging concerns over the impact of betting shops and Category B2 machines on communities, the DCMS says “the causal links around these types of machines and problem gambling, and ways to mitigate the risks, remain poorly understood. It would not be right for the government to consider any liberalisation with regard to Category B2 machines until evidence is in place, potential options for harm mitigation are better understood and the industry has demonstrated its capability to manage better the harm its products may cause to some customers.”
• The DCMS rejects suggestions that commercial snooker clubs are suffering by being unable to offer Category B3 machines, and says “it would be wrong to permit snooker clubs – which are environments in which alcohol is available – to make such machines available without requiring them to meet the same requirements as other operators. It would also be extremely difficult to justify making this privilege available solely to snooker clubs and not to the many thousands of other clubs up and down the country, many of which may also be struggling.”
• The ministry is keen on using new technology to regulate stakes and prizes in a more flexible way than “simply using blanket controls such as centrally set limits”. Agreeing with the Gambling Commission on this point, it says that “if the terrestrial industry were able to replicate the targeted controls that account-based play and electronic payment offers, there may be more scope for it to develop in the ways it would like to see”, while acknowledging that “there is a strong bias towards the concept of anonymity in terrestrial gambling in Great Britain and it is a principle that some sectors of the industry have fought hard to preserve”.
• New technology could also be used to tackle problem gambling, the DCMS says, for example through “increased provision of information to players about their play” or even “more sophisticated player-tracking systems to identify potentially problematic behaviour. Behaviour such as chasing losses could trigger customer intervention, whether in person, or the automatic provision of information to players about their current play session”.
• On casinos, the ministry says “it would be wrong for the government to roll out [large casino] licences more widely until it has a better understanding of the potential effect of these new premises on communities, both economically and socially, as well as some firm support from local authorities for casino developments in their area”.

Separately, the DCMS has also opened consultations on the triennial review of stake and prize limits for Category B, C and D machines. Further information on the consultation, which closes 9 April, can be found on the DCMS Website.
Commenting in its turn on the DCMS’s comments on the cross-party report, the Bingo Association expressed disappointment that the ministry did not back the committee’s suggestion that taxation on the game should be reduced from 20 percent to 15 percent.
Said chief executive Miles Baron: “The select committee rightly referred to bingo as ‘one of the softest forms of gambling’, aware of the social and community role that bingo plays all over the UK. It is extremely disappointing to see the government fail to acknowledge this while they also keep bingo on a higher rate of tax than nearly all other forms of gambling, including even online bingo Websites.”

USA
Nevada governor Brian Sandoval has signed legislation allowing online gaming in the state. As we went to press, New Jersey’s governor was expected to approve similar legislation imminently.
Texan voters overwhelmingly support a referendum on expanding gaming in their state, a poll has found. Chambers of commerce have also backed casino-style gaming. “Chambers representing more than 15,000 business owners recognise Texas is hemorrhaging money to neighbouring states because we have not allowed the people of Texas to vote on casino-style gaming,” said John T. Montford, chair of Let Texas Decide. “$2.5bn is spent annually in Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico by Texans, which helps pay for their roads, schools and hospitals. It’s time to let Texans decide whether they want to keep those dollars and jobs in Texas.”
Controversy has erupted in Pennsylvania over an attempt by the governor to outsource management of the state lottery to Britain’s Camelot, with the attorney general damning it as an illegal infringement of the legislature’s authority. Opponents of the outsourcing say the lottery would generate far more revenue for the state if managed by the public sector.

Original Source: EuroSlot