GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 9 - June 2009

Bodog regainscontrolofBodog.com ‘The online betting market is coping very well with the slowdown and is bucking the trend.” —EuropeanRemoteGambling AssociationChiefExecutiveClive Hawkswood “‘The resolution of our position with the U.S. authorities marks an important day for PartyGaming. It has been a long and complex process, but we have reached an amicable solution.” —PartyGamingCEOJimRyan “I don’t want the government telling me what to do unless I’m hurting you. The only issue is going to be protecting children. I don’t believe that adults should be protected from themselves by the government; that’s what your family’s supposed to do.” —2004WSOPMainEventChampionGregRaymer (right),whowasrepresenting thePokerPlayers Allianceat theConservativePoliticalActionConference “It is for the U.S. to decide how best to regulate Internet gambling in its market, but this must be done in a way that fully respects WTO obligations.” —EUTradeCommissioner CatherineAshton (above) O nline casino Bodog reac- quired the bodog.com domain name after settling a patent infringement lawsuit with 1st Technology LLC inApril. TheMorrisMohawkGamingGroup (MMGG),whichoperatestheBodogbrand inNorth America, negotiated thedealwith 1st Technology. “We are absolutely thrilled tobe able to return the Bodog experience to its rightful home - the reac- tion of staff and key suppliers has been thunder- ous,” said AlwynMorris, CEO of theMMGG in a statement inannouncing thedeal. The settlement also ends the long-running patent dispute between 1st Technology and Bodog and covers the use of coremultimedia patents for ad- vancedgamingproducts. In the original lawsuit, 1st Technology alleged the online gaming company was illegally using a “method and system for interactively transmitting multimedia information over a networkwhich re- quires a reduced bandwidth,” according to court documents. Bodog lost most of its Bodog.com domain names in August of 2007 after failing to appear in court to defend itself or challenge the $48-million judg- ment orderedbyJudgeRogerL.Hunt. Bodoghasbeenoperatingunder thebodoglife.com domain sinceSeptember of that year. The return of the bodog.com domain promises to have a significant impact onBodog’sworldwidebusiness,Morris added inhis statement. “We will be transitioning the MMGG site to this domain,” Mor- risexplained inhis statement. “Moreover,wehave inked a deal with Bodog Antigua, fromwhomwe license theBodogbrand.Under this contract, out- sideofourbrand license territory, thewww.bodog. comdomainwill be redirected to the other brand licensees’ sites, as appropriate. One domain, worldwide.” KeithMcDonnell, managing director of Bodog Europe, was also pleased with the settlement. “As the ‘Bodog’ brand licens- ee for Europe, we are ecstatic to see the return of www. bodog.com,” he said. “Work- ing with the MMGG and the other licensees, geo-target- ing will be used to ensure visitors outside of the MMGG’s territory are di- rected to the correct site, including ours (www. bodoglife.co.uk). This way, the marketing ef- fortsof every licensee to promote www.bodog . com benefit us all, ul- timately reinforcing and strengthening the global brand. It will absolutely be a win- win-win solution.” Webmaster News | GPWA Times