An Opening To the US Internet Market: How Can I Line Up To Get An Internet Poker License In Nevada and Why Should I?

by Anthony Cabot

The debate over Internet poker in the United States no longer appears to be a question of whether it will become legal, but rather when and how it will become legal. Legalizing Internet gambling is being considered at both the state and Federal levels. Legislation before Congress proposes a Federal scheme for licensing and regulating poker and games of chance. Realistically, however, if Congress passes legislation, it will likely permit Internet poker only. This is because poker, a game with a high-skill component, is perceived as different–both historically and practically–from games of chance. A poker-only Federal regulation scheme would likely leave it up to the states to determine how to legalize, license and regulate games of chance and lottery-style games. Meanwhile, states would be limited if poker is regulated at the Federal level; more than likely, the new Federal laws would preempt each state from adopting its own approach to legalizing, licensing and regulating Internet poker. … Continue Reading

How should we define ‘strict control’?

By Dr Alan Littler and Justin Franssen

Wave upon wave of preliminary  references have been sent to the Court of Justice of the European Union by national courts caught at the intersection between national gambling regulation and the principles upon which the internal market is founded.
Initially, the case-law concerned the mailing of lottery tickets in Schindler  and the operation of slot machines in Läärä,  but with the rise of the internet and the  revolution it sparked within the gambling  industry, gambling has spread like wildfire through the Court’s workload. Gambelli regulation of gambling, yet it would be  unimaginable to argue that gambling is  comparable to other activities from which  the Court has kept a distance, such as  pornography and prostitution.

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A damning indictment, disgrace, hammering: Disastrous verdict on the draft for the new German gambling treaty – Brussels rejects proposal submitted by the Minister Presidents

By Andreas Schultheis

Brussels/Kiel/Munich, July 2011 – What had to happen, happened: On eleven pages, the European Commission has torn to pieces the proposal for a new inter-state treaty on gambling (GlüStV) submitted by 15 federal states (E 15) – not including Schleswig-Holstein. Brussels criticises the E 15 draft in particular because it provides for seven time-restricted national licences from 2012 onwards, which at best constitutes a conditional opening of the sports betting market. Until today, the reason for the number of seven licences has remained a well-kept secret of the conference of Minister Presidents and their gambling advisors. Furthermore, the draft provides for a non-competitive licensing duty of 16.66 per cent of the stakes, on top of the normal value added tax.
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The season fixture list as a protected copyright – Will liberalisation flush licence fees into the professional leagues’ pockets?

By Yasmin Farhumand, German Lawyer at Hambach & Hambach Law Firm

It is generally known that the sports betting market will be opened at the beginning of 2012. The only issue which is still being discussed is how this is going to take place. In the meantime, the German football league (DFL) does not want to leave its fate in the hands of the 15 states and the draft submitted by them (E 15 draft). If the DFL has its way, the Bundesliga fixtures will, from January 2012 onwards, no longer be available for everybody for commercial utilisation, but only for those who pay a licence fee to the DFL. By doing so, the DFL intends to prevent the sports betting providers from using the Bundesliga fixture list free of charge as a basis for their bets. The DFL is of the opinion that the fixture list is subject to copyright protection. Others hold the same view: The national basketball and handball leagues have now followed suit and are claiming their share of the profits from sports betting.
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Online Gambling in Belgium – Recent Developments

by Thibault Verbiest and Tatjana Klaeser

General Introduction
On 3 December 2009 the Belgian Parliament adopted the new Belgian Gaming Act, entered into force on 1 January 2011 even though its implementing provisions (Royal Decrees of execution) had not been adopted given that the Belgian government was outgoing.

Further to the new Gaming Act, online gambling licenses may only be issued to land-based operators already operating in Belgium under an A, B or F1 license (the so-called “offline requirement”). They are therefore referred to by the legislator as “supplementary licenses”. Additionally, online gambling servers are required to be located in Belgium. … Continue Reading