The British media reported that the government intends to regulate and tax foreign based internet casinos that offer their services to UK punters.

Many British-based sites are angry because gambling sites based in other European countries pay less tax as opposed that in Britain.

Many of the UK’s top sites like Ladbrokes and William Hill formerly licensed in the United Kingdom, established offices in more favourable jurisdictions which means less tax revenue to the Treasury.

The minister for tourism and heritage for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, John Penrose said that the legislation would be tabled in parliament. It stipulates that foreign based operators will be issued with a secondary license where they must pay a license fee.

The specifics of the license fees were not disclosed in the publication. In future foreign based operators will fall in a different tax bracket. The British government intends to stop foreign …

Current news with regard to New Zealand’s internet gambling scene suggests that it’s playing out in the same manner as in most unregulated markets.

At this stage internet gambling is not regulated nor legalized in New Zealand, neither are there any plans to regulate it soon. The government is aware that players based in New Zealand wager at foreign-based internet casinos, and some internet casinos like Royal Vegas internet casino that permit wagers in New Zealand dollars.

Hitherto its national lottery said it aims to beef-up it sales by using the Internet as a launching pad to sell its main products. Based on a report from TVNZ, the national Lottery Commission issued a statement outlining its intentions for the next two financial years. It aims to sell lotto tickets in supermarkets and to produce Instant Kiwi ‘scratchies’ that could be purchased via the Internet. At present tickets could be purchased …

Almost overnight Macau, a former Portuguese colony in the Far East, has become a gambling giant and entertainment sensation.

If you open the drawer beside your hotel bed normally you’d expect a Bible, in Macau you’ll discover a small symbol of another faith: a new deck of cards. Every year millions of visitors make their pilgrimage from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland which is only 90 km away.

The rich fly in by helicopter; factory workers arrive in cramped coaches. Their temples have odd names such as the City of Dreams and Babylon-and their congregations are growing. It used to be called the Las Vegas of the East. But this small territory barely known to many in the West is the new giant of the casino industry.

For centuries Macau was a Portuguese colony and since 1999 it belonged to China. Thanks to the relative freedom it enjoys under …

Based on Malta’s objections Brussels decided to postpone the go-ahead and implementation of regulated internet gambling in Greece.

Malta’s government representative made its intentions known to the European Commission with regard to regulated internet gambling: certain aspects of the draft Greek law are unacceptable since they do not value the EU’s core principles of legislation. When Cassaon-casino tried to gain more insight into this matter with regard to Malta’s objections the spokesman refused further comment.

“Greece informed the EU concerning its draft legislation through the union’s Technical Regulations Information System (TRIS) and Malta rendered its opinion and feedback on the draft legislation,” the spokesman told Internet casinos. A representative of the European Commission said that Malta is the only member state to object so far, however, the Commission also informed the Greek authorities about this warning.

“As it stands a few aspects of the draft law does not take into …

Matt Robinson bwin.party’s central marketing director has been made an offer by Betfair he can’t refuse. Robinson’s new position in Betfair will be exchange’s emerging markets director. A position specifically created for the knowledgeable gaming executive.

Robinson, a former employee of PartyGaming, worked for the company for two years. He’ll start his new position effectively in September where he will report to Niall Wass chief commercial officer. In a recent interview, Betfair said that Robinson will spearhead product management, marketing, brand management, sales and various other segments within the company.

Wass had the following to say on Robinson’s appointment: “The role we’ve created for Robinson is indicative of Betfair’s international aspirations. Matt has a pivotal role to play within the commercial function since we aim to expand Betfair into new countries and jurisdictions across the globe.”

Since its flotation on the London stock exchange last November Betfair’s shares dropped by …

Operators still interested in a uniform and a pragmatic online gambling regulatory system across the European Union were notified the previous week that the closing date for the consultative interval as set forth in the European Commission’s Green Paper will only last another month.

At the European Gambling Policy Conference in Brussels EU politician Jürgen Creutzmann said that Europe-wide control of the internet gambling industry is the only resolution to the present fragmented market: “The market as it is, is in dire straits and the current system does not offer a viable solution,” he said.

A more standardized approach is needed, since the current market does not promote harmony between its Member States and the European Union’s system leads to unnecessary costs, fraud and unlicensed gambling. According to the European Gaming and Betting Association, a trade body that represents most of Europe’s largest gambling sites caused a single industry to fragment …

In its latest press release Microgaming said that it intends to introduce exiting new casino games to all its internet casinos for the month of July.

Microgaming’s new casino games will be innovative offering players something unique. Players will be able to play these new games through the various Microgaming Flash platforms and QuickFire. QuickFire is Microgaming’s latest initiative enabling internet casinos to access a selection of its games without having to lease the entire software package. We’re still in the dark whether or not the games could be played on Microgaming’s Download platform.

Hexaline is one of Microgaming’s latest casino games. According to Microgaming’s press release it’s “an ‘alternative slot’ style game where players must complete a colored chain of bordering hexagons from left to right on the honeycomb grid”. Once payouts are made the winning blocks are replaced with arbitrary new blocks. Players will receive new payouts should …

Irvin B. Nathan says the bill is okay and lawful.

This past Wednesday’s hearing the Washington DC Council’s Committee on Finance and Revenue, the DAG (District’s Attorney General) Irvin B.

Nathan stated that legalizing intrastate internet gambling in Washington DC is perfectly legal and in agreement with the state’s federal laws, therefore it remains on track for its launch date on September the 8th. Councillor Brown defended the measure as well, he said: “Perhaps some people have not seen the budget,” adding that additional income would be generated for the District.

Committee chairman Jack Evans had his reservations by including this legalizing measure in a budget bill, he said, “To be honest we were not even aware of its inclusion,” and also added, “The bill was supposed to be included into a supplemental budget in December 2010, devoid of any hearing or prior notice.” Given that the District could be …

Full Tilt has decided to sell a large percentage of its stake to anonymous European investors just two days after its operating licenses were suspended by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC).

Based on the feedback received from the Los Angeles Times the mega poker site concluded a deal with “European-based investors” and the deal “would permit U.S players to recover more than US$150m.”

Internet casinos reported on May the 27th that the indicted operator is seeking the sum of $150m and that they were locked in discussions with various investors outside the financial services sector at the time. The LA Times mentioned that any cash raised would be utilized to resolve the civil suit that has been looming since April over Full Tilt since the indictment of Bitar and co-founder Nelson Burtnick.

Full Tilt recently notified its players via its customer support section that it is negotiating a deal …

Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) is the globe’s premier laboratory where casino games are tested. Technical Systems Testing (TST) is one of these GLI Company’s that certifies egaming sites..

GLI and TST recently publicized the world’s very first internet gaming regulatory guidelines-simply termed GLI-19.

President and CEO of GLI James Maida had the following to say, “This heralds an important day in the gaming industry. I can honestly say that GLI-19, GLI and TST have the proper mechanisms in place to guide emerging markets in developing the necessary technical controls and regulations to facilitate their gaming platforms.”

GLI-19 has been used as a yard stick to review all the major internet gambling jurisdictions. The review lasted for more than a year; it entailed detailed consultation with internet gambling regulators, software developers and internet casinos across the globe.

Since GLI and TST are on good terms with all the major players within …