Regulation round-up 2 October 2012
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (26 September to 2 October 2012).
Netherlands to release draft egaming regulation
Draft bill will be issued to stakeholders for consultation early in 2013.
The Dutch Ministry of Justice is preparing to release the country’s first draft egaming regulation, eGaming Review can exclusively reveal.
Efforts to prepare laws relating to online gambling were thought to have been put on hold since the Dutch government collapsed in late April following failed budget talks, however eGR has learned that work on draft regulations has continued within the Ministry of Justice with a plan to finalise a law to ensure no further delays will be incurred when a new government is established before the end of the year.
Politicians are currently attempting to form a coalition cabinet between the VVD right-wing liberals and the social democrats of the Dutch Labour party under a new leader, Diederik Samsom.
The draft is set to be issued to industry stakeholders early in 2013 for consultation, and despite many expecting a closed market with limited licences and games to be sought, a source close to the matter told eGR he expected the draft to mirror the more liberal Danish model. The consultation is expected to last two or three months.
Justin Franssen, head of the gaming practise group of VMW Taxand, commented: “The draft will probably come much earlier for consultation than we had originally anticipated. From just looking at what the state secretary has mentioned in the last year or so, I expect the draft to highly likely reflect a lot of the elements of the liberal Danish egaming model.”
Spanish gamblers given green light to deduct losses
Gaming regulator approves new interpretation of the taxation on players’ wins – players had reportedly been moving abroad to avoid confusion over existing taxation which did not allow to deduct losses..
Spanish gaming regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) has approved a new interpretation of the country’s egaming regulation with regards to the taxation of players.
Previously it appeared that players would be taxed on winnings without being able to deduct losses, however it has now been confirmed that income tax is only payable on the net win/loss total.
This matter has been a cause for confusion since the first Spanish egaming licences were issued in June this year, and eGR understands that a number of poker players in particular have consequently moved to neighbouring Portugal and other jurisdictions rather than set up accounts with dot.es sites.
According to the new interpretation, on which the DGOJ is set to publish an official paper this week, players will be permitted to backdate these deductions as far back as 1 January 2012.
Indian court deems online poker illegal
Calls to have poker defined as a game of skill are dismissed, while wagering money on skill games is also deemed illegal where a rake is taken.
A court in the Indian city of Delhi has ruled that egaming sites offering poker and skill games with a house rake are forbidden in the Asian country.
The ruling follows a proposal from a New Delhi-based company to launch a site offering texas hold’em poker, rummy, bridge, chess snooker and billiards, with games taking place between two or more players rather than against the house.
In court documents seen by eGaming Review these games are all defined as having “A preponderance of skill over chance,” however the proposed commission of less than 5% on the winning hand has been ruled to fall foul of the country’s legislation.
Among the questions posed before the court is that of “Whether wagering or betting on games of skill makes the activity ‘gambling'”.
Seeking to justify the definition of poker as a game of skill, the counsel for the petitioner cited the acceptance of the game as a mind sport, as well as last year’s paper from Freakonomics author Steven D Levitt on the role of skill against luck in poker.
It also cites the recent New York court ruling which defined poker as “not gambling under IGBA”, although it accepts that “Many states in the US and other places seek to prosecute people playing poker.”
Seven days in regulation:
Boyd and Fertitta on GCB agenda
Golden Nugget will also go before Nevada State Gaming Control Board as all three bid for online poker operator licences.
Boyd Interactive, Fertitta Interactive and Golden Nugget have become the latest licence applicants to be added to the Nevada State Gaming Control Board (GCB) agenda.
All three have applied for online poker operator licences and will see their applications go before the GCB on 3-4 October. It will be the first meeting of the regulatory board to be held without the involvement of Mark Lipparelli after the chairman announced his decision to step down from the role at the end of this month.
While the application from Golden Nugget is for operator status only, Boyd and Fertitta Intertactive are also pursuing licensure as service providers in the Silver State.
Isle of Man and Malta in cooperation agreement
Information-sharing agreement follows similar deal between LGA and Jersey regulator.
The Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC) has entered into a deal with its Maltese counterpart, the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA), which formalises the sharing of information between the two regulators.
According to a statement from the GSC, the agreement “Has the principles of protection of consumers and preservation of public order at its centre and the common objective of improving regulatory standards in respect of these principles through exchange of knowledge, provision of assistance and establishment of a good working relationship.”
Quickspin awarded Alderney licence
Swedish developer receives core services associate certificate to offer games to licensed operators.
Stockholm-based casino games developer Quickspin has been awarded its licence by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.
The core service provider associate certificate gives the company, founded by Net Entertainment and Unibet veterans, accreditation to provide games to licensed Alderney operators.
Quickspin CEO Daniel Lindberg said of the deal: “I am very pleased that we have been granted this certificate by the Commission. Apart from it being a seal of credibility for our company, it enables us to offer our state of the art content to some of the largest gambling operators in the world.”
Camelot drops appeal against High Court ruling
Judgement refused review of Health Lottery’s licence to operate in UK awarded by Gambling Commission.
National Lottery operator Camelot has announced that it will no longer appeal last month’s High Court ruling refusing permission for a judicial review of the Health Lottery’s UK gambling licence.
In a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron, Camelot Group CEO Dianne Thompson said she did not want the appeal and further legal action to delay “much-needed political action to close a loophole in the Gambling Act 2005″, according to a statement.
Camelot had argued during the High Court case on 22 August that although the Health Lottery manages draws for 51 separate local organisations and charities, it saw this overall scheme as a rival national lottery, which is not permitted under the National Lottery Act of 1993.