Regulation round-up 29 January 2013
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days 23 January to 29 January 2013).
German Federal court refers State Treaty questions to CJEU
Germany’s highest civil court rules Schleswig Holstein egaming regime and country’s Interstate Gaming Treaty cannot operate in parallel – refers four questions to Court of Justice of the European Union and defers Treaty’s enforcement until Luxembourg body takes official stance.
Germany’s highest civil court has ruled that Schleswig Holstein’s egaming regime and the country’s E15 Interstate Gaming Treaty cannot operate in parallel referring four questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and deferring the Treaty’s enforcement until the Luxembourg body takes an official stance on the matter.
However, earlier this morning, Schleswig-Holstein’s new SPD-Green-SSW coalition government voted in Parliament to return to the State Treaty by a majority of one (32 to 31) ruling out the possibility of any new licences being issued confusing matters further.
Hans-Jörn Arp, parliamentary secretary for the opposition CDU party said he was “stunned” by the coalition’s decision criticising local SPD leader Ralf Stegner and describing his actions as “bulldozing blindly through the country”.
“He [Stegner] pushes laws, court decisions and facts aside. He insulted European institutions and governments of neighbouring European countries. I command him to stop his madness, his deputies of the government parties to follow in blind obedience to the detriment of Schleswig-Holstein.
Network poker “finished” in Spain claims disillusioned licensee
There is “no chance” for anyone but PokerStars to succeed in the Spanish poker market, the chairman of struggling Spanish licensee Goalwin has claimed, criticising the country’s regulator for poorly managing the situation and allowing smaller, mainly network-based licensees, to consider throwing in the towel as a result of unprofitable liquidity levels.
Chicco Merighi, the founder and president of Goalgaming group, told eGaming Review he believes that all four networks currently operating in the Spanish online poker market are all doomed to fail as a result of PokerStars’ dominant 70% market share.
Goalgaming, the umbrella organisation that owns the Goalwin brand, received its online poker licence on 12 September 2012 and has since added Goalwin poker to the newly Amaya-owned Ongame network alongside Finish brand Paf.
Seven days in regulation:
Euro trade bodies issue Barnier with illegal operator warning
Three major European gambling trade bodies have warned EC Commissioner Michel Barnier of the threat posed to measures in his egaming action plan by unlicensed operators.
In an open letter sent late last week, European Lotteries (EL), the European Casino Association (ECA) and European Pari Mutuel Association (EPMA) have expressed their concern that consumer protection measures could prove “meaningless” unless the fight against “illegal” operators is prioritised.
The letter describes these unlicensed entities as “The forms of gambling that are the most dangerous in terms of specific risks in terms of fraud, money laundering and addiction, whose consequences, both social as well as the financial can be disastrous for players.
Italian market ends 2012 with five months of decline
The Italian egaming market decline continued in the final months of 2012 as the extra expenditure provided by casino and cash poker regulation was all but wiped out, according to full year figures released from the country’s regulatory authority today.
While cash poker (up 63.6% year-on-year) and casino (up nearly 200%) saw steep rises following the products being switched on in July 2011, overall expenditure was relatively flat, rising only 1.9% year-on-year to 749.1m.
The authorisation of slots on 3 December last year, however, has shown some early promise with casino amounts staked rising 40% month-on-month to 18.9m in the final month of the year. The total also represents a year-on-year increase of 74.4%.
Egaming goes live in Manitoba
The province of Manitoba has launched its online gambling site, offering residents access to sports betting, casino games and poker.
Manitoba first announced its plans to offer regulated online gambling in April 2012 when it revealed it had partnered with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), which has designed and developed its new egaming site in conjunction with existing software and gaming platform supplier OpenBet.
DoJ wades into New Jersey sports betting case
New Jersey’s plans to legalise sports betting suffered a setback yesterday as the US Department of Justice joined a lawsuit filed by sports leagues aimed at blocking such regulation.
The DoJ claims it is intervening “for the purpose of defending the constitutional challenges to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (Paspa)”, which since 1992 has permitted sports betting in only four states: Nevada, Montana, Oregon and Delaware.
Pennsylvania senators condemn lottery egaming plans
Five Pennsylvania senators have written to Governor Tom Corbett calling for the state lottery to be prohibited from hosting online gambling games.
The move follows Republican Corbett’s backing of UK National Lottery operator Camelot’s bid for the state lottery management contract last week- currently before the attorney general for review “ which would include internet-based gambling and keno.