iGaming News all over the world 13.04.2010

13.04.2010, Eleven Online Casinos Running RTG Sued for Patent Violations / Ladbrokes Liquidates Italian Retail Betting Division / Australian Gambling Companies at Odds Over Horse Race Funding / Grand Prive Group Online Casinos License Suspended

Eleven Online Casinos Running RTG Sued for Patent Violations
In the world of the internet there are some serious grey areas when it comes to intellectual property and patent infringements. A little known company Lottotron Inc. registered in Hackensack, New Jersey, USA has had it's share of patent infringement cases in court over the last few years. Some very high profile companies have been sued by the communications firm. Law suits claiming patent infringements have been filed in recent years against Microsoft, GTECH, Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, and others.

Recently a patent infringement case was filed against as many as eleven online gambling operators located in the jurisdictions of Costa Rica and Curacao. News sources report that a number of Real Time Gaming software powered online casino firms have been threatened with legal action. Lottotron claims it owns a patented processes that these casinos and RTG are using without providing compensation to Lottotron Inc. The claim describes the patented process as, "A wagering system for accepting wagers over communications systems comprising (a) automatic call director means for receiving incoming messages from subscribers who with to wager on the system, b) message means connected thereto for receiving the incoming messages routed from the ACD, and for playing a series of recorded audio messages requesting subscriber wager information to be input via telecommunications means, and (c) host processor means having storage means and being connected to the wagering VRU for receiving the subscriber wager information, storing it in a master subscriber wager file in the storage means, and assigning an associated ticket number to the wager."

A similar description was enclosed in the Lottotron, Inc. v. SBG Online Casino case filed in January of 2010 in a New Jersey court. With so many patent infringement cases before the courts filed by Lottotron Inc. this company looks a little like a lottery ticket purchaser just waiting for the big payoff by some online gambling operation or a giant firm like Microsoft with an offer of a settlement. It sounds like the company is fishing for a win with most of it's claims having been dismissed by judges thus far.

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Ladbrokes Liquidates Italian Retail Betting Division
According to recent reports Ladbrokes the betting giant from the U.K. has decided it will sell off it's land based betting shops located in Italy. Ladbrokes has agreed to a deal with an affiliate of Italian gaming and betting business Cogetech. The €5.25million price tag will give Ladbrokes a break from mounting losses incurred by running the retail betting shop chain in Italy and allow Ladbrokes to concentrate on it's online business ventures. Cogetech will now maintain the entire Italian retail estate of 82 shops and 51 corners and Ladbroke's head office in Milan.

The bookmaker’s Italian retail business posted a loss of £9.9m during 2009 experiencing a significant downturn with the slumping economy. This is swift action following Ladbroke's appointment of new CEO Richard Glynn even though the move to sell the outlets was announced after posting losses in August of 2009. Finances was reason enough to liquidate the outlets caused by lower revenue growth, the presence of illegal shops, competition and the need for higher capital investment to make a dent in the online gambling market in Italy.

The bookmaker has expanded its online operations in Italy with the recent launch of a Ladbrokes poker room on Microgaming's Italian poker network. The company sees the expansion continuing with an online casino and bingo offering coming to a Ladbrokes web site soon as regulations in the opening Italian market continue to evolve. France and Spain are also target markets that Ladbrokes will grow into as countries in Europe open up and regulate the online gambling industry. Ladbrokes recently brokered a deal with French media and television company Canal +. The Spanish land based interests Ladbrokes owns are safe for the time being as it will retain it's joint venture with Spain's Cirsa that has reportedly been doing break even business so far this year. This may not continue if there is not a suitable resolution to expansion in Spain outside of Madrid.

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Australian Gambling Companies at Odds Over Horse Race Funding
The face of gambling is changing rapidly in Australia as a new generation comes into focus and gambling venues vie for a piece of the action from the next wave of gaming enthusiasts. There is the constant competition between traditional forms of gambling such as horse racing and pokies and the new vogue activities such as poker and casino play. It has been estimated that Australians spend $18.2 billion a year on gambling, $11.4 billion of which is on poker machines, and $2.5 billion on racing, with $172 million bet on various sports.

Sports betting is showing the greatest expansion with most other gambling activities being the same over the past twenty years. Elmer Funke Kupper, managing director, for Tabcorp which employs about 11,000 people, commented on the gambling state of affairs in Australia, 'The next generation of customers is quite different from our traditional customer base,' adding, 'They are much more tech savvy, more impatient, and they wager, more as a part of a social interaction.'

The radical changes to gambling being brought on by the online gambling industry and the changing demographic has lead to many questions as to whether or not the horse racing sector will continue to survive and be supported. Numbers are declining and interest is dropping as more popularised forms of gambling eclipse the horse racing venue. Two conferences, the inaugural Australian Racing Conference and the Asian Racing Conference, are being held to answer the questions plaguing racing mostly who will fund the industry. Legal disputes over funding models for the state-based racing bodies have erupted recently with the Productivity Commission producing a draft report, recommending a national approach to funding. Betfair the betting exchange is waiting on a decision from the Federal Court, that will determine if Betfair must pay Racing New South Wales 1.5 per cent of its turnover, which Betfair argues is 60 per cent of its revenue. Andrew Twaits, chief executive officer at Betfair, said, while funding models are determined, racing is at risk of becoming a 'niche gambling product'. Adding, 'I think that unless racing focuses on trying to reclaim its mainstream status in society, then that's a very real risk,'

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Grand Prive Group Online Casinos License Suspended
Operating from the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, in Quebec Canada the Kahnawake Gaming Commission has issued licenses to over 50 online gambling operators who between them run more than 250 gaming sites. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission is known for its enforcment of the regulations. Adequate compensation was assured by the Commission when patrons were hit by the super user scandal that erupted in some of it's licensed poker rooms a while ago.

Maintaining it's strict ethics is something the Kahnawake Gaming Commission is bound to do as it has recently proved with the complete suspension of licensee Grand Prive group. The advisory notice sites the Grand Prive group's failure to file a Material Change Report as the reason for the suspension. Grand Prive group did not inform the Commission that it had recently switched software suppliers. Maricass International Holdings Inc. which is known as Grand Prive Group and it's web locations Bella Vegas, Big Dollar, Casino Grand Bay, Fortune Junction, Grand Bay Casino, Jackpot Wheel, Jupiter Club, Kasino Grand Bay, Lake Palace and Road House Reels. Are all affected by the advisory signed by Murray Marshall, the general counsel of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.

Grand Prive will be given a second chance to file the appropriate documents that outlines details of it software changes and should it not comply it's licenses will be suspended permanently. The Commission has alerted other online gambling jurisdictions, and the public, with a statement, "the Commission is not responsible for these sites should they continue to operate from another jurisdiction". Microgaming the former software provider may be looking for answers from the Grand Prive group as they were not informed the change in software. Grand Prive is reportedly using BetonSoft software to keep it's operations active, with the prefix 'Bet'. BetonSoft is licensed in the Netherlands Antilles jurisdiction.

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