FRANCE

Online gaming operators in France, legalised a year ago, want the taxes of 7.5 percent on Internet betting and two percent on online poker reduced. Groups including AFJEL, the French association of online operators, argue that the rates are stifling growth by deterring players. They want a profits-based tax rather than the current turnover-based levy. Budget minister François Baroin has sought to quash their hopes, saying there will be no tax reforms before 2012 if at all, but online regulator ARJEL has hinted at the possibility of change during the next year.

GREECE

Greece’s next steps in its apparently confused progress toward liberalisation of gaming laws are unclear. The industry now seems to accept that it is too late to expect regulatory approval for video lottery terminals (VLTs) this year; a more likely priority for Athens, it is suggested, is privatisation of the government’s stake in Greece’s casinos. The future of the monopoly held on lotteries and sports betting by publicly-traded OPAP – of which the government also owns roughly a third – is also uncertain.

IRELAND

Dublin’s city council is opposed to casinos opening anywhere in the capital, despite ambitious plans by the national government to authorise both big resort casinos and smaller local facilities in Ireland. The city council also said it did not want any more gaming arcades in Dublin.

 ITALY

Italy’s post office, Poste Italiane, is applying for a licence to offer online betting services. It is believed that its interest most likely relates to PosteMobile, its mobile virtual network operator.

 NORTH KOREA

To attract Chinese tourists, North Korea plans to open a casino in Mount Kumgang. Previously, North Korea made a one-sided decision to cancel the South Korea-based Hyundai Group’s exclusive tourism rights to Mount Kumgang, and shortly afterwards, the news emerged of the casino plans. However, South Korean authorities believe that North Korea’s one-sided cancellation of Hyundai Group’s Mount Kumgang tourism rights violates international practice and have requested North Korea to immediately revoke the decision.

 SPAIN

Spain’s congress has approved the country’s major new gambling legislation, which now passes into effect. It is a milestone in the regulation of gaming in Spain – only decriminalised in 1977 – and most significantly will allow online gaming. It will also pave the way for the government to sell off a stake in LAE, the national lottery, to raise around €6bn. Still to come but expected early this summer, however, are more detailed laws spelling out the requirements for operators wishing to apply for licences. Not all forms of online gambling are permitted under the new law; sports betting during games will not be available to Spanish players on the Internet, and nor will bingo. Online gambling tax will be 25 percent of gross gaming revenue.

TAIWAN

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) of Taiwan says that “chess and card game software” involving gambling and speculation, including mahjong, poker, dice, metal ball, horse racing, roulette, Little Mary, slot and fruit games can no longer be listed as “general category” games, and must be listed in other categories.

An official of MOEA pointed out that currently there are 200-plus chess and card games in the market. Of these, 87 percent are games with a speculative nature, such as mahjong, but only 12 percent are listed in the parental guidance category. This type of games may be harmful to children’s physical and mental health, the MOEA believes, and should therefore be switched to the protected, parental guidance or restricted categories.

Chess and card software such as Chinese chess, the PickRed card game and solitaire still can be classified in the general category because of their educational and leisure functions. On the other hand, those chess and card games that contain zoomed graphics of scantily-clad women must be classified in the parental guidance or restricted categories. Similarly, if the game teaches about speculation or encourages it, it must not be listed in the general category.

The Industrial Development Bureau of MOEA revised the Computer Software Rating Regulation in 2009 to compulsorily require game software for computer, TV and handheld consoles to have rating labelling on packages as a reference for consumers. The rating categories include general, protected, parental guidance and restricted.

 UK

Britain’s Gambling Commission says it “has seized gaming machine equipment and other assets following a co-ordinated national operation that forms part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged illegal manufacture and supply of gaming machines under the Gambling Act 2005”.

More than 30 members of the Commission’s enforcement team, supported by offices from four police forces, took part in co-ordinated raids on three residential addresses and 14 business premises in late May. Twenty machines which they suspected were illegally supplied were seized, including several Skill Stop Roulette systems. The Commission has been investigating Quest Gaming’s Skill Stop Roulette for some time and has warned operators that the units will be treated as gaming machines requiring a licence, rather than as skill with prizes devices (SWPs).

 U.S.

Nevada’s Gaming Commission is set to debate the future of the many “slot arcades” that have, over the years, managed to secure licences under rules originally intended to permit bars and taverns to offer small numbers of amusement machines. The Commission’s discussion could take place as early as July.

Concerns over the venues are growing; opponents say that although the legislation enabling them to operate was originally meant for bars where gambling is incidental to the main business, these locations are more akin to miniature casinos, with gaming their prime source of revenue.

Meanwhile, the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a bill paving the way for Nevada’s casinos to offer Internet poker if, or when, the federal government allows it.

That may be sooner rather than later. A recent crackdown by federal prosecutors on online poker operators in the U.S. has if anything made the issue more urgent. “I would be shocked if the confluence of media attention and public appeals to regulate Internet gambling doesn’t serve as a sufficient catalyst and motivator for Congress to move on this issue,” said Michael Waxman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. One possibility widely mooted is a federal okay for poker only, with other forms of online gaming remaining banned.

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