Chuck Greene here, back from the 3rd annual Internet Gambling Symposium in London with a mixed bag of news and gossip for you:
Starnet's Seal of Approval
In an otherwise neutral presentation, new Starnet CEO 789bet Ellis
unveiled Starnet's plans to award a "seal of approval" to their
licensees as confirmation of the fairness and honesty of their games. Of
course, the notion of Starnet, a company mired in legal problems, giving itself
a "seal of approval" brought a few chuckles from the audience and
sarcasm from an FBI agent I spoke with later that day. Not exactly what the
industry has in mind when it talks about "self-regulation".
Casino to go
Can you imagine playing a few hands of blackjack on your mobile
phone while waiting for a bus or train? That exciting new technology is coming
our way and Sweden's Net Entertainment aims to be at the forefront. Douglas
Roos filled me in on his company's plans to provide blackjack and other casino
games for mobile phones using WAP (wireless application protocol). I'll have
more information on this exciting new technology in a future WINNERonline
article.
Internet gambling NOT okay in Canada
Detective Sergeant Steve Clegg of the Illegal Gaming Enforcement
Unit in Ontario, Canada made it clear that, as the law now stands, Internet
gambling is not legal in Canada and his Unit is definitely interested in anyone
operating an Internet casino in Canada -- especially if they're taking bets
from Canadians.
Also, it's Clegg's interpretation of the law that it's illegal
for Canadians to place real money wagers at Internet casinos, though I'd be
shocked if we ever see any individual citizens prosecuted, and I'm definitely
hoping I won't be the first.
On to friendlier horizons
Representatives of Australia, Antigua and South Africa all made
their bids to entice prospective online casino operators to bring their servers
to their shores. Antigua certainly presented an appealing argument, pointing to
relatively low license fees ($100,000), quick approvals and experience in the
land-based casino industry. High taxes and slow application processing are
definitely keeping some operators from pursuing Internet gaming licenses in
Australia. In the case of South Africa, laws still need to be changed before
the country can be considered Internet gambling-friendly.
Showing their wares
A pair of online gaming companies came to the conference ready to
showoff their casino software. I took Online Gaming Systems' (ticker symbol
OGAM, formerly AIEE) Shockwave casino games for a spin and, although the games
look good and seemed to play smoothly, I question whether Shockwave will ever
be a preferred method of delivery for Internet gambling. To date we have not
seen a truly successful Shockwave casino on the Net. Java, yes. Download, yes.
But Shockwave?
San Jose-based Innoco, also exhibiting at the conference,
displayed a more conventional approach with good-looking download casino games
already in play at Mavericks Casino.
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