What's New? - May 2008

A formal probe into US gambling ban by EU

The European Union has started a formal investigation aimed at finding out if the US anti-gambling law UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) passed 2006 by the Congress is discriminatory against European firms or not.

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European Commission files suit against Spain

The Commission of the European Communities (CEC) has filed a suit against the Kingdom of Spain on April 15, 2008, because under the Spanish legislation winnings from lotteries, games and betting are subjected to income tax only if organized outside Spain. CEC claims that such a discriminatory taxation fails to fulfil Spain's obligations under the Community Law, especially under Article 49 EC and Article 36 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area, which prohibit any restriction on the freedom to provide services anywhere within the European Union territory. Read more ..

Foreign Operators Don't Have To Pay U.S. Wagering Taxes

Nelson Rose, one of the world's leading authorities on gambling laws, comments a ruling by a federal magistrate that foreign internet gambling companies need not pay U.S. excise taxes on wagers, provided they have been set up correctly. The ruling was in favour of Gary Kaplan, founder of BetonSports, who was arrested at the Dallas airport while changing plane to Costa Rica on charges of attempting to evade the federal excise tax on wagers. Nelson Rose comments that if this ruling is upheld, internet gambling operators may save billions of dollars on bets taken from Americans. Read more ..

National Non-Profit Group Sues U.S. Government to Reveal Terms of WTO Online Gambling Settlement

Public Citizen, a U.S. national non-profit organization has filed a lawsuit to force the US administration to reveal the details of its offer to the European Union to bind more sectors of the U.S. economy to World Trade Organization (WTO) jurisdiction to compensate for the negative business effect of the U.S. ban on online poker and Internet gambling for the European companies offering offshore gaming services to US citizens. This offer was accepted by the EU. Read more ..

Support for attempts to legalize sports betting in Delaware and New Jersey.

The Delaware House of Representatives passed a bill earlier last week to allow establishment of sports betting in the state. Also in New Jersey, the Senate Committee on Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation heard testimony earlier this week on a proposal to allow sports betting in the state. These moves to legalize sports betting and collect revenue currently lost in the underground are supported by the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative (SSIGI). Read more ..

Read also Senator urges Corzine to sue over sports betting ban

Antigua, US make final attempt to settle trade dispute because of US anti-gambling laws

Dr Errol Cort, Antigua and Barbuda's Minister of Finance and Economy arrived in Washington for high level talks with United States Trade Representative (USTR) officials in a final attempt to resolve the ongoing trade dispute over US market access for Internet gambling countries registered in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country. They have time until June 6 to reach an amicable resolution. Otherwise the legal battle will be re-opened. Read more ..

An Attempt to Gut the UIGEA

Nelson Rose, one of the world's leading authorities on gambling laws, comments on the bill, H.R. 5767, introduced by Barney Frank and Ron Paul on April 10, 2008, and its possible implication for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 2006 (UIGEA). This bill, if it becomes a law, would mean that "The Secretary of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, whether acting jointly or separately, may not propose, prescribe, or implement any regulation" under the UIGEA, "including the proposed regulations published in the Federal Register on October 4, 2007." According to Rose, even if the bill does not become a law, it will have served its puropse by telling Agencies that "a lot of people are unhappy with the proposed regulations. The goal may be to slow things down until after the election. With a new President and Congress, the UIGEA could be undone, or at least amended." Read more ..

Dutch authorities want to fight illegal online casinos

It is reported that the Dutch Justice Ministry wants banks to help them fight illegal online gambling sites by not providing financial services to them. According to a spokeswoman of the Ministry, a list has been made of 30-50 such sites, including the Swedish online gambling site Unibet, and the banks have been requested to stop servicing them. Only the Dutch state lottery De Lotto has permission to offer online gaming in the Netherlands. Read more ..

Street Rally planned in Seattle after a court hearing of Lee Rousso charged of illegal online gambling

Online gambling in Washington State can be punished with 5 years imprisonment. Mr. Lee Rousso, a poker player and attorney, is challenging this law in a court hearing on May 15, 2008, in Seattle. The Perspectives Weekly and the Poker Players Alliance are planning a street rally after the hearing in support of Rousso. Watch Perspectives Weekly Video.

Tory Lord calls French gambling law an "atrocious example"

The Tory Lord James of Blackheath is reported to have denounced the French law defending the gambling monopoly of the State as an "atrocious example". He said the law made it “a crime equal to the downloading of child pornography to place a bet for as little as two euros with any British bookmaker”. He also asked whether the UK government is considering a similar law on bookmakers operating from France into the UK to “restore a level playing field”. Read more ..

Will foreign gambling sites be allowed to operate in Denkmark?

It is reported that the Danish Minister for Tax, Kristian Jensen, said in an interview to a local radio station that his office is investigating the possibility of allowing non-Danish gambling companies to operate alongside Danske Spil, which is owned by the State, as long as they met Government demands. The Minster stated that he would like to see a regulated market with organization as current legislation provides the Government with little or no control over where Danish citizens gamble or where their money is coming from or going to. Read more ..

Isle Of Man streamlining regulations

A document has been published in the Isle of Man containing the outline of the proposed Gambling Duties Bill to replace the Betting Act 1970 and the Pool Betting (Isle of Man) Acts 1961 to 70. Gambling is an important source of revenue for the island in terms of licence fees, excise duties and creating additional employments through banking activity and the support industry. A wide range of Internet gambling activities have developed on the island during the past years including gaming, poker and bingo. The proposed legislation will reflect this change. Read more ..

Tax evasion charges queried in Kaplan case

Gary Kaplan, founder of Betonsports, who had pleaded guilty in US to federal racketeering charges in May 2007, is arguing, as now revealed in court documents from the US District Court of Missouri, that no tax laws were violated by him because “no wagering excise tax was owed by him because the wagers either were not accepted in the Unites States or were not placed by a person who was in the United States”. The court found “the defendant’s arguments persuasive”. Read more ..

The US Horse-Betting Industry Fears the UIGEA Implementation

When the US Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), back in 2006, the Horse Racing was not affected by it negatively, being protected by the Interstate Horse Racing Act. Some even thought the UIGEA would help the horse-betting industry by wiping off one of their competitors for clients, the offshore online gaming operators, from the US market.The industry has spent $400,000 on lobbying in two years since then to keep itself outside the Internet gambling ban. Two years hence, the situation is creating plenty of headache to them. They are beginning to comprehend that if the UIGEA is fully implemented, forcing banks and other financial institutions to be "not only the police officer, but also the judge and jury, forced to make a sentence — with the sentence being your payment will not go through," as expressed by Wayne Abernathy, executive vice president for financial institutions policy at the American Bankers Association (ABA), they may have at the end no other choice than refusing to accept transactions for bets on horse racing, too. “If this were implemented, banks would basically say, ‘This is now a trap for us. We’re not processing any payments to anything that might look like a betting activity — no payments to Churchill Downs even,’” said Wayne, referring to Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.Read more ..

Belgian Judge Rejects Complaints of the French Tennis Federation (FFT) against Bwin and Ladbrokes

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) had brought forward a case in Belgium against the European betting operators Bwin and Ladbrokes because they had offered bets on the French Open tennis tournament organized by the FFT. They were unwilling to allow these operators to use any logos related to the tournament arguing that online bets could encourage fraudulent betting on some of the matches. A first instance court in Belgium has now rejected this complaint in three rulings. The judge took into consideration the existing procedures "preventing all anonymous bets, ensuring perfect traceability" as well as the corporate responsibility of the EU operators concerned, attesting they had behaved in a prudent and diligent manner. The Belgian judge ordered the French Tennis Federation to pay € 5000 per case for the recovery of legal costs. The European Gaming & Betting Association EGBA welcomed the ruling. Bwin is a member of EGBA. Read more ..