State lotteries reassured by Placanica ruling

The recent ruling by the European Court of Justice is welcomed by bookmakers as a sign that European markets are opening up. But the state lottery community is undeterred. On the contrary, after reading the fine print, the European association of state lotteries finds the judgement reassuring. Just like the landmark Gambelli judgement, the Court's new ruling recognises that Member States have a perfect right to restrict gambling activities. And it's perfectly legitimate for them to channel demand away from less regulated sources by offering games that people want to play, advertising them and delivering them over new distribution channels.

Three-headed man shows evils of VLTs

Some state lotteries' responsible gambling campaigns fall short by placing the burden on the players through messages like ‘keep it fun' or ‘play responsibly.' A new campaign by the Oregon Lottery takes the extra step of educating the public that the games themselves influence a player's behavior, KTVZ reports.

"This is a major step for a state lottery to take," said Jeff Marotta, problem gambling services manager in the Oregon Department of Human Services.

The "three-headed man" ad shows a man deeply absorbed in playing a video game when a second head appears and encourages him to stick with his budget and time constraints. Then a third head appears arguing that he has plenty of time and is about to win.

The Myth Buster section of the Oregon Lottery's website, inspired by responsible gaming pioneer Atlantic Lottery Corporation, is also a shining example of a creative awaress campaign by a state lottery.

Cohen conviction upheld

A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of former World Sports Exchange president Jay Cohen under the federal Wire Act, IBLS Internet Law reports.

The ruling supports the Department of Justice's long-standing position that the Wire Act applies in Internet gambling. Gambling considered unlawful by the United States was previous possible on the Internet due to loopholes in enforcement. UIGEA aims to close some of those loopholes by obliging financial institutions to block transfers to online casinos.

Online gambling firms brace for French crackdown

French authorities say they want to interview as many as 20 executives at Internet gambling firms that do business in France, raising suspicions that a US-style crackdown may be on the way, the Guardian reports. Partygaming denied it was on the list but closed its website to French customers last week. One major shareholder has since sold 123 million shares.

The once mighty Internet gambling giant later announced a 56 percent drop in annual profits, Forbes reports, largely attributed to its forced departure from the US market in September.