Gambling Update - March 2010


News From Around Europe

The European institutions continue to debate how Member States should regulate remote gambling within their national territories. Whether new EU Commissioner for the Internal Market Michel Barnier will continue the work commenced by Charlie McCreevy ensuring Member States comply with EU laws when regulating the gambling sector within their countries is still unknown. The most recent European Court Advocate General Opinions closely follow the views outlined in the BWin/Liga v Santa Casa judgment and make clear that Member States have a wide discretion to impose restrictive rules (often seeking to prevent remote operators from gaining access to national markets) where adequately justified. We report on these Opinions and the potential impact they will have if adopted by the European Court in the coming months.
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Key Developments in Other Territories

Since our last update, there have been some interesting developments in major non-European territories. This article looks at recent events in the US and China.
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Irish Proposals to Introduce Secondary Licensing Regime for Online Operators

In January, we reported on UK Government proposals to introduce secondary licences for offshore operators which would permit them to continue advertising and promoting gambling services to British citizens. Just weeks later, the Irish Labour Party also outlined proposals in its Raising the Stakes report which, if implemented, would require gambling operators based outside of Ireland to become licensed in Ireland and to pay local betting taxes. The impetus behind this proposal is that the burden of funding the Irish horseracing and greyhound industries should move from Irish taxpayers to all operators accepting bets on Irish races whether on-course, in betting offices or remotely by telephone and online. The Raising the Stakes report notes that "The Labour Party believes it is fair that remote gambling operations pay their fair share the same as high street bookmakers. Every bet placed in the Irish state should contribute to the betting levy, regardless of the method of placement".
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It's Raining Sports Betting Integrity Reports

It's the same old story: you wait years for a sports betting integrity report, then two come along in the space of a week. The Government's Sports Betting Integrity Panel, chaired by Rick Parry, delivered its report on 1 February 2010, just five days after the release of the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) report entitled "Sports Betting: Legal, Commercial and Integrity Issues". The RGA consultation was launched in July 2009, just a week after Parry's panel was appointed. So: what's going on?
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Gambling Product Placement To Be Outlawed

In our last update, we reported on the DCMS consultation about permitting product placement on television, and the possibility that gambling product placement might be permitted after the 9pm watershed. However, the Government has now announced an outright ban on gambling product placement, putting it in the same category as alcohol, tobacco products, medicines, foods and drinks which are high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) and infant formula.
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The OFT Takes Action Over Misleading Scratch-Cards and Lottery Scams

In January 2010, the Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") announced that it had issued legal proceedings against five companies and a number of individuals behind various prize-draw scratch-cards. The OFT considers that the promotions in question are misleading and unfair to consumers. This action follows a lottery scams campaign which was launched by the watchdog in November 2009. The OFT is clearly monitoring consumer products closely and therefore gambling operators should be careful to ensure that their commercial practices are in accordance with both gambling and consumer laws.
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Round Up of Other Regulatory News


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