June 11th, 2009 by admin

Monday, the Swedish Patent and Registration Office rejected a complaint from Sweden’s state-owned gambling monopoly, Svenska Spel, against gambling-addiction treatment center Hemska Spel.

The gaming operator alleged that the treatment center’s name, which translates to “Horrible Game,” was damaging its brand. The patent office rejected the complaint, saying that it did not consider Hemska Spel a threat to Svenska Spel.

The patent office went on to say that it did recognize “certain phonetic and visual similarities” between the two names. But, it said, because Hemska Spel is a medical treatment facility there is little chance of consumers confusing its name with that of the gaming operator’s.

Hemska Spel, which registered its name with the patent office in 2007, is located in Rostanga, in southern Sweden.

June 11th, 2009 by admin

Just when it looked like the Philippines would become the next foster parent for online gambling regulation, the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) has issued a mandate to stop all activities related to online gambling operations, including the testing of online wagering software and other telecommunication infrastructures. Coming down on Meridien Vista Gaming Corporation (MVGC), the cease and desist order is a major blow to the Cagayan Economic Zone.

Originally authorized and licensed by the CEZA to set up jai-alai kiosks and telecommunications operations to enable online wagering, MVGC has been quite busy doing all it could to collect on its newfound freedom - perhaps going too far in this regard. Reports have surfaced stating MVGC went too far than allowed by law, which ultimately may have gotten the rug pulled out from them.

It was the Office of Government-owned and Controlled Corporations (OGCC) who first stepped in to overturn the authorization by CEZA, giving MVGC free reign to set up betting operations catering to jai-alai, which is a very popular pastime in the Philippines. According to the OGCC, Meridien Vista had operated outside of its restricted jurisdiction and thus abused its licensing privileges.

These accusations were later proven true during hearings which showed that MVGC had operated in the Camarines provinces, Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela, the latter two of which were originally trial areas before MVGC was given strict jurisdictional restrictions under the Cagayan Economic Zone and Free Port Interactive Gaming Act.

What this means for Asia’s first online gaming jurisdiction, First Cagayan (which is overseen by CEZA), is that they mean business. In other words, when they say they are here to regulate online gambling, they aren’t kidding. And not that they would even need it or would stand to benefit from it, First Cagayan certainly deserve a whitelisting by the UK Gambling Commission.

June 11th, 2009 by admin

Now that Democrat Senator and Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, has publicly released the legislation he and countless other pro-online gambling activists hope will repeal the UIGEA and foster online gambling regulation, the prospects of just how likely the legislation stands a chance of passing, not to mention the support or lack thereof needed for it to pass, is becoming more clear.

Senator Frank is no stranger to controversy and opposition. Before even finishing his latest draft, opponents and naysayers were voicing their opinions. Just last month in the D.C. politics news site, “The Hill”, an article expressed pessimism that Frank’s legislation would not see the light of day. Not going so far to argue that Frank’s legislation is flawed or unenforceable, the article said the legislation faced a “tough course to passage” because it is being introduced as a stadalone bill, rather than an attachment to a greater bill.

And while this argument may have some merit, perhaps Senator Frank wants to take a much higher road than his nemesis colleagues who were able to get the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed as an attachment to a Port Security bill back in 2005. Or, perhaps Frank knows he has the support, even from conservatives, needed to get the bill passed.

This is indeed what some insiders and analysts believe, such as former U.S. Senator, Alfonse D’Amato. Although he is the Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (one of the largest and strongest lobbying forces for the legalization of online poker), thus giving him good reason to be biasly optimistic, D’Amato has some good points to make. He recently chimed in his own two cents on “The Hill”, stating that Frank’s legislation will draw support from both sides of the camp who are equally disappointed with the failings of the UIGEA.

Because the UIGEA is costing taxpayers billions of unearned revenue, and is driving off billions more in capital and jobs by chasing off online gambling operators, and all the while does nothing to effectively enforce an online gambling ban, some politicians are comparing it to the failings of prohibition in the 1920’s. Furthermore, the UIGEA does not effectively protect the underage and potentially problematic online gamblers. Frank’s legislation, however, offers viable solutions to protecting children. In similar fashion to how the UK is currently successfully regulating online gambling, Frank’s legislation sets forth strict guidelines that hold betting operators accountable.

Online casino gamblers shouldn’t get too excited just yet. Even if the bill does receive Congressional approval, individual State’s will have the choice of regulating or not. In other words, the U.S. facing online gambling landscape may soon become a virtual extension of Las Vegas. Depending on one’s residence, the act of internet betting may become an increasingly difficult thing to do.

June 11th, 2009 by admin

The Caribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda was the preeminent place to go for obtaining an online casino operator’s license in the early days of the online gambling industry. And not because it was an easy thing to do, per say, but Antigua was one of the only government’s even offering a legit license to offshore operators - most of which were doing the bulk of their business in the U.S.

Well, times have certainly changed. Not only are there more government-run licensing jurisdictions in operation today, Antigua and Barbuda is falling on the wayside. The big “shocker” for Antigua was the decision by the U.S. government to pass the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), and consequently, rewrite their obligations to the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade and Services.

These days, Antigua is simply trying to keep its head above water. Originally left off the UK Gambling Commission’s whitelist (the UK now has the honor of leading the way in terms of online gambling regulation and licensing), Antigua just barely squeaked by in getting a green light to allow its online casino, poker room and sportsbook licensees to advertise in the UK.

And now that the U.S. Department of Justice has uncovered an alleged multi-billion dollar pyramid scheme at the hands of billionaire Allen Stanford, whose Stanford International Bank has been a major “player” in Antigua’s economy for many years, the UK white-listing is in jeopardy of being retracted. In fact, some British lawmakers are calling for a review of Antigua’s white-listing and are questioning the Antiguan government’s ability to properly regulate its online casino licensees. They are also allegations that the same people who regulate Antigua’s finances are the same people regulating the online casinos.

Antigua was quick to defend these claims, bringing attention to the fact that Barclay’s Bank was scandalized by the hands of a single, corrupt trader. The bottom line is that Antigua would be wise to make their own regulatory procedures more transparent in the eyes of the online gambling industry at large if they want to compete with the likes of other jurisdictions, including the UK, Malta, Alderney, Isle of Man, Curacao and Kahnawake.

June 11th, 2009 by admin

In a recent article here at OCS, we brought light to the fact that after several top-shelf online casino software developers closed their doors to the U.S. market; i.e., Cryptologic, Playtech and the more recent closing of Microgaming, all of the U.S. traffic has begun to funnel to the only other reputable, offshore regulated software suppliers who are permitting their online casino licensees to continue taking bets from U.S. citizens.

In our last article, we discussed the ever-expanding family of Real Time Gaming powered online casinos. The other software developer taking in the lion’s share of U.S. traffic and steadily building up a prodigious progressive jackpot network is the popular Vegas Technology software platform (formerly known as Odds On back in the early days of online gambling).

Most recently, Vegas Technology was responsible for divvying out one of the larger jackpot wins to a single player. Worth over $225,000, this particular jackpot was hit at a very auspicious time - none other than Easter Sunday. There will certainly be some people who question the act of gambling on Easter Sunday, but for the lucky U.S. player who nabbed the jackpot, spinning the reels on Easter was the best decision they could have made.

It was Vegas Technology’s Mega Money Mine online slot that broke this weekend. The ever-so-fortunate player, Jackie, who goes by the screen name of DallasWorks, said she is still amazed, especially considering the size of her winnings. It’s more common to see $50,000 or $75,000 jackpots being won. A $225,000 jackpot is much less frequent - and to be on the receiving end makes it even more hard-to-believe.

Since the jackpot was hit on Vegas Technology’s wide area progressive jackpot network - meaning that several online casino contribute to the same jackpot - it isn’t known which licensee was home to the jackpot. But that will be sorted out soon enough. Most likely, it’s one of Vegas Technology’s more popular and established properties, which can be read about on our Vegas Technology Casinos page.