GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 7 - January 2009

| GPWA Times P opular online gambling software provider Microgaming stopped accepting new U.S. registrations in November. The decision to stop accepting U.S. play- ers came in the wake of a ruling by a Kentucky judge that gave the software pro- vider 30 days to block access to Kentucky residents or forfeit their domain to the government of Kentucky. Microgaming was one of the 141 online gambling sites that was subjected to a seizure order approved by Judge Thomas Wingate. But Wingate’s ruling has been blocked until a three-judge panel has ruled on an appeal filed by Internet gaming firms and trade groups. The decision, which was expected in January, had not been handed down as of press time. Kentucky first moved to seize the 141 online gambling domains in late September. The list of sites targeted was “developed by attorneys (conducting the inves- tigation) and are sites where people from Kentucky, using Kentucky addresses, were able to place bets,” said Jennifer Brislin, communications director for the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the government. The targeted domains are held by a mix of domestic and international regis- trars, Brislin added. Among the sites targeted by Kentucky are PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, Bodog, and Slotocash. “Our end game is to stop that activity (gambling) within Kentucky,” Brislin said. “We have no interest to shut it down elsewhere in the country or world- wide.” In October, Wingate ruled in favor of Kentucky. In his ruling, he said that if the 141 sites “reasonably estab- lished to the satisfaction of Kentucky’s Justice and Safety Cabinet or this Court that such geographical blocks are opera- tional (within 30 days), (they) shall be relieved from the effects of the Seizure order and from any further proceedings in the instant civil forfeiture action.” Visit GPWA.org for the latest developments on the Kentucky domains case. Microgaming withdraws from U.S. “We’re hopeful that, in the fullness of time, the new [Obama] administration will take steps to regulate [Internet gambling].” - PartyGaming Chief Executive Jim Ryan after his company reported a 15 percent fall in poker revenues in November. “The authors and supporters of the law are happy with this definition, because it puts the financial institutions in the position of wanting to throw up their hands and say this isn’t worth it.” - iMEGA Chairman and CEO Joe Brennan Jr. after the U.S. Department of Treasury and Federal Reserve announced its final joint rule to implement and enforce the UIGEA. “’There have been projections circulated on the Hill that it can raise billions of dollars in new federal revenue, so we can expect that the whole issue of Internet gambling will be front and center in the next Congress.” - Frank Fahrenkopf (right), American Gaming Association president and CEO. Webmaster News “I blew it. I spent it on different things — drugs, different stuff.” - Jacqueline Dennis when asked by police what she did with the $27,000 she stole from a poker game in West Virginia.