Gambling Update - September 2009


Latest news from Europe

Over recent months there has been increased debate in many Member States as to how remote gambling should be regulated at a domestic level. Some Member States are responding to Commission complaints by amending rules, at least partially, to permit licensed operators to offer their gambling services to citizens as well as the national monopoly providers. At the same time other Member States remain resolutely opposed to any opening of their domestic gambling market (generally citing concerns about increased risks of gambling addiction) and are considering introducing laws to restrict citizens from gaining access to gambling websites by means of IP blocking or restricting banks from dealing with gambling transactions. We report on the status of these proposals and the European Commission's response. In this update, we also report on the recently published European Court of Justice ruling in the Bwin v Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa case. We provide a summary of the ruling which many are describing as a set back for online gambling operators seeking to expand into other EU territories.
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EU Commission threatens to side with French over "right to bet"

This Summer has seen some worrying developments for bookmakers in the continuing debate over whether they should have to pay for the right to take bets on sporting events. French sports governing bodies have been lobbying for the creation of this new right for some time, and in June the Head of the Sport Unit at the European Commission, Michal Krejza, said that "in principle, we take a positive view of the French idea of creating exploitation rights of sport event organisers from the sports betting operators".
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US to discuss gambling restrictions dispute with European Commission

This month, the European Commission and the US are due to discuss their dispute over the US's protectionist gambling laws. In the event that no agreement is forthcoming, the Commission could refer the dispute to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Whilst the Commission's backing over the issue is clearly a fillip for the European online gambling industry, the likelihood remains that, if and when the US gambling market opens up, it will only be open to those paying US taxes.
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Conflicting approaches to online gambling in the US

The conflicting signs about the future treatment of online gambling, and in particular online poker, in the US continue. While federal prosecutors have stepped up their efforts to target operators still offering gambling services to consumers in the US, there have been some moves by legislators to legalise it and regulate the market.
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Turf TV: Court of Appeal upholds the decision against the bookmakers

The Court of Appeal has ruled on the appeals by the bookmaker body BAGS, Ladbrokes and William Hill against the 2008 judgment in relation to media rights agreements entered into by AMRAC, the racecourse-owned body that operates the betting shop audiovisual service, Turf TV.
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The Rank decision and its implications

We reported in June upon the High Court's decision to reject HMRC's combined appeal of the two VAT and Duties Tribunal decisions relating to the differential VAT treatment of both The Rank Group's mechanised cash bingo (the "Bingo Appeal") and its slot machines (the "Slots Appeal") on grounds of fiscal neutrality. Since then, HMRC has sought leave to appeal the High Court's decision (in relation to both the Slots Appeal and the Bingo Appeal) and has released two Briefs setting out its current position and the implications for taxpayers in relation to claims for overpaid VAT and under declarations of bingo duty.
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Ofcom publishes new regulations for transactional TV gambling channels

We reported in a previous update that Ofcom had written to TV gambling channels and other interested stakeholders in February 2008 proposing to re-categorise TV gambling channels and programmes as "teleshopping" services. The change to the licensing of these services has now come into effect.
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Cranway Ltd v Playtech Ltd

In the recent case of Cranway Ltd v Playtech Ltd and others [2009] EWHC 1588 (Pat), 7 July 2009, the High Court held that a patent for a system of online gaming was invalid as being anticipated by and obvious over a prior art system.
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A round-up of DCMS and Gambling Commission news

We reported in our last update the Government's plans to introduce a compulsory statutory levy on the gambling industry to fund the research, education and treatment of problem gambling. The need for legislation was avoided when a deal was struck between DCMS and the gambling industry for a new voluntary funding arrangement, intended to bring in at least ?15 million over three years.
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