GamingTechLAW

Philippines Gaming Laws: An Overview

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:18:00 +0000

Thanks to Joanna Dizon, here we have a very interesting article on the Philippines Gaming laws, if you want to write an article for GamingTechLAW, just drop an email to me, Giulio Coraggio. Enjoy the article!

Punishable Games:

In general, punishable games are divided by above laws in the following categories:

• forms of gambling and betting which includes illegal or unauthorized games of cockfighting, jueteng, jai-alai or horse racing including bookie operations, game fixing, numbers, bingo, masiao, last two and other forms of lotteries;

• games using dice such as cara y cruz, 7-11, pompiang, and similar others;

• card games such as black jack, lucky nine, poker, and its derivatives, monte, baccarat, cuajo, pangguingue, and similar others;

• games using plastic tiles such as paik que, high and low, mahjong, domino and similar others;

• games using mechanical contraptions and devices such as slot machines, roulette, pinball, and similar others;

• forms of races such as dog racing, boat racing, car racing, and similar others;

• forms of individual or team contests such as basketball, boxing, volleyball, bowling, pingpong, point shaving and other machinations where waging of either money or other articles of value is involved;

• games such as banking or percentage game;

• other games analogous to any of the categories previously enumerated where waging is involved and money or any article of value is at stake.

Punishable Acts:

• direct or indirect participation in any prohibited game;

• under the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, punishable acts include deliberately allowing any form of gambling in any inhabited or uninhabited place, building, vessel or other means of transportation owned or controlled by the offender; the importation of lottery tickets or any advertisements of such in the country; sale of said tickets; and even mere possession of the tickets;

• P.D. 1602, on the other hand, punishes willful possession without authority of any lottery list, paper or other matter containing letters, figures, signs or symbols relevant to or in any manner used in the games of jueteng, jai-alai or horse racing bookies, and similar games of lotteries and numbers, regardless of whether actual gambling is taking place. Failure of a barangay official to stop the operations of a gambling place within his jurisdiction despite knowledge thereof also makes him liable;

• under R.A. 9287, a parent, guardian, or any person exercising authority or moral ascendancy over the minor, ward, or incapacitated person who induces the latter to participate in any illegal numbers game shall also be liable.

Who is liable:

The persons considered liable are those enumerated below:

• Bettors, persons betting through another, and the like;

• Government officials who participate in gambling operations whether indirectly as a maintainer, conductor or operator, or directly as the umpire, coach, judge, and the like in cases of game fixing, point shaving and machination;

• under R.A. 9287, the following persons are likewise held liable for participating in illegal numbers games:

1. collectors or agents also referred to as cobrador, cabo, coriador---those who collect bets in behalf of other persons and who are usually in possession of gambling paraphernalia;

2. coordinators, controllers, or supervisors also known as encargado—those who take charge of the collectors or agents;

3. personnel or staff of the maintainer, manager, or operator---watchmen, ushers, table manager or any other person responsible for ensuring the smooth flow of actual gambling operations;

4. maintainer, manager, or operator---those mainly responsible for the entire operations of illegal numbers games and from whom the coordinators or collectors take orders;

5. financiers or capitalists---those who furnish the needed capital for the gambling operations

6. protectors or coddlers--those who provide protection or any insulation from apprehension of the offenders.

• under P.D. 1602, any security officer, security guard, watchman, private or house detective of hotels, villages, buildings, enclosures and similar other places having the reputation of a gambling den or places where actual gambling activities are held shall likewise be liable.

New Italian Remote Licenses: Here Are The Rules

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 02:17:00 +0000

As expected, the Italian Gaming Authority has notified to the European Commission the draft decree setting out the new Italian licensing regime. The draft decree will be subject to the review of the European Commission up to the 15th of October 2010 and, if no comments are raised by the other EU Member States, it is likely to be finally approved shortly after that. After the publication of the decree on the Official Gazette, new operators will be able to apply for an Italian remote gaming license.

On the basis of a preliminary review of the draft decree, the most relevant provisions appear to be the following:

the company holding the remote gaming license has to be established in any country of the European Economic Area, but the servers of the company can be located in any country of the EEA or in any other country that has entered into a bilateral agreement with AAMS;
operators will be entitled to resell gaming vouchers to recharge gaming accounts and therefore the so called "punti di commercializzazione" will not be fully banned, but it will be prohibited the installation of gaming terminals (i.e. totems);
the guidelines for the certification of gaming platforms for poker cash games and casino games were notified together with the draft decree and, as a consequence of that, the launch of such new games is likely to occur shortly after the final approval of the decree.

Given the above, it is time to get ready for new operators planning to target the Italian gaming market. In this respect, feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio, if you need assistance in relation to the above.

Keywords Can Lead To Trademark Breach

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:55:00 +0000

After the long awaited landmark Louis Vuitton v. Google decision, the European Court of Justice (the "ECJ") has issued another interesting decision on the use keywords in search advertising systems (e.g. AdWords) that however reviews the issue on the advertisers' side.

The ECJ held that a trademark holder can prohibit from advertising an advertiser that - without the consent of the trademark holder - selected a keyword for an Internet referencing service identical with/similar to trademark registered by the former in relation to goods/services identical to those in respect of which his mark is registered, "where that advertising does not enable average Internet users, or enables them only with difficulty, to ascertain whether the goods or services referred to by the ad originate from the proprietor of the trade mark or from an undertaking economically linked to it or, on the contrary, originate from a third party". Also, the ECJ added that in such circumstances advertisers cannot rely on the exceptions to the applicability of the abovementioned prohibition prescribed by Article 6(1) of the Trademark Directive 89/104/EEC but it is up to national courts to determine the applicability of this exception on the basis of the particular circumstances of the case.
This decision confirms the position initially taken by the ECJ in the Louis Vuitton v. Google case, but it will be interesting to see how these decisions will be followed by national courts and which level of cooperation by the provider of the Internet referencing service in the selection of the keywords chosen by the advertiser will trigger his liability in addition to the one of the advertiser.
Do you want to discuss the implications of the abovementioned decision on your specific case or business? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Casino Games and Cash Games: A Step Forward

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:52:00 +0000

Following the recent dispute on the decree regulating casino games and poker cash games in Italy, the Italian Gaming Authority - as expected - has renotified to the European Commission the decree regulating casino games and poker cash games (as well as poker tournaments and skill games) and all the regulations implementing such decree.

The draft decree had already been notified to the European Commission and the other regulations implementing it had already been approved by the Italian Gaming Authority, but the purpose of this renotification is clearly to "cure" the procedural defects challenged in the pending dispute before the Administrative Court of Lazio Region. Indeed, according to the information currently available, the main defect challenged in the abovementioned dispute was the lack of consistency between the version of the draft decree notified to the European Commission and the one finally approved.

The stand still period for the review of the abovementioned documents before the European Commission will expire on 7 October 2010 and, considering that such regulations had already been approved by the Italian Gaming Authority, their final publication is supposed to occur shortly after such deadline if no comments are raised by other EU Member States.

If you need more information in relation to the above, feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Time for a change - New Contact Details!

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:47:00 +0000

Dear Reader,
This is to inform you that with effect from today I will be leaving my current law firm to join the Rome/Milan offices of DLA Piper which is one of the largest law firms in the world with 3,500 lawyers in offices throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States and with a tremendous expertise in the technology law field that is recognized worldwide.
I will be always very active in the gaming, Internet, technology, telecom and privacy sector, but my contact details will change. Here is my new email address.
Giulio

Cookies & Behavioral Ads: The Rules

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:34:00 +0000

The Article 29 Working Party, the European Union data protection advisory body, issued an interesting opinion on online behavioral advertising, i.e. the tracking of users when they surf the Internet and the building of profiles over time, which are later used to provide them with advertising matching their interests. Rules on behavioral advertising are relevant for (i) ad network providers, i.e. those connecting publishers with advertisers (e.g. the major search engines); (ii) advertisers, i.e. those promoting a product/service to a specific audience; and publishers, i.e. websites owners looking for revenues by selling space to display ads. In particular, the Article 29 Working Party focused its attention on the usage of cookies or similar devices and on the data collected through them and stated:

cookies often entail the processing of personal data;
ad network providers, publishers and advertisers can all act as data controllers and therefore (depending on the activity performed) are responsible for the compliance of the processing of the personal data collected through the cookies and other sources (or transferred to thrid parties) depending on the activity performed;
Art. 5(3) of the E-Privacy Directive requires that ad network providera - before the cookie is placed/the information stored in the user’s terminal is collected - (i) provide users with a clear and comprehensive privacy policy outlining the data processing performed and compliant with the EU Privacy Directives; and ii) obtain the users' consent to the storage of or access to information on his or her terminal equipment.

In this context, the Article 29 Working Party puts relevant restrictions to the possibility to give such consent through mere browser settings requiring ad network providers to create prior opt-in mechanisms (no mere opt-out) implying an affirmative action by the data subjects indicating their willingness to receive cookies or similar devices and the subsequent monitoring of their surfing behavior for the purposes of serving tailored advertising. It will not be necessary to request consent for each reading of the cookie (but just on the first occasion), but data controllers should: i) limit in time the scope of the consent (i.e. requiring it again after a period of time e.g. one year); ii) offer the possibility to revoke it easily and iii), create visible tools to be displayed where the monitoring takes place.
Even if the opinions of the Article 29 Working Party are generally not binding, they represent a relevant point of reference for the interpretation of local privacy laws. Indeed, not only ad network providers, but any publishers i.e. any websites from which cookies are installed on users' terminals should take into account the privacy limitations identified in the opinion.

If you want to discuss the implications for your business of the abovementioned opinion, feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Modifying Consoles Is A Crime

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:52:00 +0000

The Italian Criminal Court of Cassation has issued an interesting decision against two resellers of gaming consoles selling devices, the so called "modchips", aimed at removing the technological measures of protection embedded in gaming consoles by the relative manufacturers.

Article 171-ter, letter f-bis, of Italian Copyright Law, implementing the Copyright Directive 2000/29/EC, sanctions with the imprisonment up to 3 years and with a fine up to € 15,493 any person that to gain profit:

manufactures, imports, distributes, sells, rents, assigns on any basis, advertises for sale or rental, or possesses for commercial purposes devices, products or components or the provision of services which either

have as primary purpose or commercial use the circumvention of any effective technological measure i.e. measures of protection adopted by copyright holders limiting or blocking the unauthorised usage of the copyright protected material through its encryption, distortion or any other kind of transformation or of a mechanism of control of the produced copies; or
are primarily designed, manufactured or adapted with the purpose of circumventing such measures.

The Court held that the conduct undertaken by the resellers of modchips was meeting the requirements of the abovementioned crime as this provision is applicable both when copyright holders embed the technological measures of protection in the games themselves and when such measures are incorporated in the gaming consoles. However, the Court clarified that scope of the provision is limited to the cases when it is possible to prove that the devices have as a primary purpose the circumvention of such measures of protection.

This decision has been welcomed by console manufacturers as the Court of Cassation has finally clarified its position on the matter.

Do you want to know more details on the above? Please contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Virtualization and Cloud Computing: risks and opportunities

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 06:13:00 +0000

This is to inform you about a very interesting conference named “Virtualizzazione e Cloud Computing: rischi ed opportunitità” (Virtualization and Cloud Computing: risks and opportinuties) that will be held on the 23rd of June 2010 in Milan at Palazzo Turati. The conference will see the participation of world famous lecturers, managers and attorneys.

I believe it is a great opportunity (also because the entrance is free) to get to know better a topic that is extremely actual especially during a period of financial difficulties. Indeed, the panel will discuss the risk and opportunities arising out of this practice for both providers of IT services and companies interested in implementing cloud computing systems.

Do you want to know more about the conference? Please contact Graziella Furci.

Contributory Liability for Linking

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:17:00 +0000

The Court of Milan issued an interesting decision on a topic that is very “hot” especially now during the Football World Cup. Sky Italia, the holder of the copyrights on the broadcasting of the matches of the Italian football championship, brought a claim against the website “tvgratis.net” that provided the links and software necessary to access to Chinese websites stream broadcasting such football matches in breach of Sky Italia’s copyrights and against Telecom Italia, the Italian telecom incumbent, providing access to such website.

The court held that the website “tvgratis.net” was contributory liable for the breach performed by the Chinese website because it had provided the tools allowing the access to the copyright protected material. On the contrary, the court applied the principles set out in the E-Commerce Directive as implemented in Italy and declared that Telecom Italia was not liable for giving access to breaching contents.

It would be interesting to see what the outcome of this decision would have been in other jurisdictions, if you have your view on that just post your comment or send an email to me, Giulio Coraggio.

Delays on Cash and Casino Games in Italy

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:17:00 +0000

The Administrative Court of Lazio Region has issued an interim suspension of the efficacy of the Italian decree on poker cash games and casino games following a claim from Microgame, one of the main Italian gaming operators (not to be confused with Microgaming).

Based on the information currently available on the press, Microgame has challenged the legitimacy of the decree on cash games and casino games - as according to them - the Italian Gaming Authority would have introduced substantial amendments to the draft decree that had been notified to the European Commission. On the contrary, according to the Italian Gaming Authority the extension of the provisions of the decree had been agreed with the European Commission and was based on their requests.

The hearing where the dispute will be discussed in its merits will be held on the 13th of October 2010 which means that the efficacy of the decree will be suspended at least up to such date and therefore the launch of these new games will be further postponed.

This bad news provides new entrants in the market with a longer term to make their platforms compliant with the requirements prescribed by Italian law bearing in mind that poker cash games and casino games have never been marketed in Italy and therefore a completely new gaming market is about to come.

Do you need more details on the above? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Europe Supports Dutch Gaming Monopoly

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 23:12:00 +0000

Once again following the recent Bwin v. Santa Casa decision, the European Court of Justice has declared an European gaming monopoly compliant with the EU principles to provide services in two decisions involving Betfair and Ladbrokes against the Dutch gaming monopoly.

To give you a but of background information, Dutch legislation in relation to games of chance is based on a system of exclusive licenses under which only one license is granted in respect of each of the games of chance authorized and the offering games of chance interactively via the internet in the Netherlands is completely banned.

De Lotto is a non-profit-making foundation holding a license for the organization of sports-related prize competitions, the lottery and numbers games and challenged the offering by Ladbrokes and Betfair of games to Dutch residents in absence of the required license.

The ECJ was involved in relation to the compliance of the Dutch exclusive license system with the EU principle to provide services and held that:

“Article 49 EC must be interpreted as not precluding legislation of a Member State, such as the legislation at issue in the main proceedings, under which exclusive rights to organize and promote games of chance are conferred on a single operator, and which prohibits any other operator, including an operator established in another Member State, from offering via the internet services within the scope of that regime in the territory of the first Member State”.

Moreover in the Ladbrokes case the court added:

“it is for the national court to determine whether unlawful gaming activities constitute a problem in the Member State concerned which might be solved by the expansion of authorized and regulated activities, and whether that expansion is on such a scale as to make it impossible to reconcile with the objective of curbing such addiction”.

This decision seems to be a further confirmation that until the gaming legislation of the EU Member States will be harmonized, the European Court of Justice is likely to support local gaming monopolies and licensing regimes denying the mutual recognition of other EU licenses as the Italian regime that has been recently approved by the EU. Operators are likely to obtain a local license in each EU Member State where it is possible to apply for it and such approach is likely to lead to the end of the current .COM websites.

Do you want to share your thoughts on the above? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Bad News on Online Slots

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:31:00 +0000

The Italian Gaming Authority has published a Bulletin Circular providing the details on the technical authorization process to be performed by Italian licensed operators before starting the offer of online skill games (including poker tournaments), poker cash games and casino games. New entrants in the market interested in the offer of such games shall - before starting the offer of their games to Italian residents -:

apply and obtain an Italian online gaming license;
have their gaming platform and each offered game certified by a certification entity accredited with the Italian Gaming Authority;
submit to the Italian Gaming Authority the project relating to their gaming platform and each offered game; and
obtain the technical authorization for the offer such games by the Italian Gaming Authority.

However, the Bulletin Circular contained also some some bad news for operators. Indeed, while it will be possible to obtain the technical authorization for the offer of poker cash games and casino games different from online slot machines following the publication of the decree on the new licensing regime (expected to occur shortly), it will be necessary to wait at least until March 2011 to start offering online slot machines.

This decision from the regulator has given rise to considerable complaints, but such delay should not hinder the growth of the Italian gaming market that will see in the next months also the launch of betting exchange games and bets on simulated events.

Do you have questions on the above? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Italy-Malta: The Gaming Deal?

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:09:00 +0000

As discussed in a previous post, the new Italian online gaming license regime will allow operators to locate their company and their servers in any country of the European Economic Area. This represents a considerable advantage for gaming operators that will be able to set up their company in countries with a tax regime much more favorable than Italy like Malta. In this context, a friend of GamingTechLAW, Ian Gauci, a partner in the Maltese law firm Gatt Tufigno Gauci, Advocates, was so kind in providing the post below that gives some insights on the reasons why Malta is a favorable country for gaming operators. Enjoy the article!

As the first EU country to formally regulate iGaming, Malta has established itself as a leader in the gaming industry, attracting some of the major players to the island’s shores. The success of the iGaming industry is not solely attributable to one factor but it is widely acknowledged that apart from the gaming legislation, a number of unique characteristics as explained briefly in this post have contributed to this accomplishment. One of the attractions that Malta offers to investors is undoubtedly the favorable taxation regime applicable to Maltese registered companies. Although Maltese companies are taxed at a flat rate of 35% on worldwide income, various tax refunds are available at the level of shareholders. Upon a distribution of a dividend, shareholders are entitled to:

a refund of 6/7ths of the total tax paid, including any foreign tax paid;
a refund of 5/7ths in case of profits derived from passive interests or royalties; and
a refund of 2/3rds of the total tax paid if relief from double taxation is claimed.

Malta adopts the full imputation system which means that dividends will not be taxed again in the hands the shareholders. A wide range of double taxation treaties (including a double taxation treaty with Italy) are in force. Furthermore there is neither any withholding tax imposed on dividends, nor any CFC or thin capitalization rules are applicable. A favorable tax system along with excellent infrastructure, serious regulators, state of the art infrastructure, an extensive treaty network, highly qualified professionals who are fluent in a number of languages and a business friendly atmosphere have raised Malta’s reputation beyond its relative small size, truly placing itself as a jewel in the Mediterranean.
Do you want to know more details on the above? Feel free to contact Ian Gauci or me, Giulio Coraggio.

Italy Bans Gaming Terminals

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:05:00 +0000

As anticipated in a previous post, the lawfulness of gaming terminals (the so called "totem") installed in public places (e.g. coffee and tabacco shops, department stores etc.) connecting to online gaming websites (including licensed websites) has been the topic of long debates during the last years. Indeed, some online gaming operators base most of their business on totems located in shops and this circumstance generated considerable complaints from other operators arguing that the online offer of games should be only "online".

Totems have been highly criticised also because they are the main source of illegal activities as shop assistants in some cases collect bets on behalf of their clients and place them through totems located in their shops. Such practice is in contrast with Italian criminal laws that prohibit the intermediation in the offer of games; only betting shops holding a gaming license issued by the Italian gaming authority can collect bets from players.

The outcome of this long dispute has been the issue by the Italian Gaming Authority of a Circular Bulletin where it clarified that totems are prohibited and can be installed only for the offer of fixed odd betting games following an express authorization from the Authority.

This regulatory change should be welcomed by new entrants in the market that will be able to shortly apply for an Italian online gaming license. In fact, the competition in the Italian online gaming market will occur online and therefore foreign operators will not have to bear the considerable costs connected to the setting up of a network of shops.

Need to know more information about the Italian gaming market? Do you want to apply for an Italian gaming license? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

VLT Casinos: Time To Kick Off!

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:46:00 +0000

The Italian Gaming Authority has finally declared that the testing phase relating to videolotteries (VLTs) is now over. After the long wait, licensees will be shortly entitled to install up to 56,697 VLTs awarding maximum wins up to € 500,000 which is a massive change for a country where there are only 4 "real" casinos (that were obviously among the major oppenents of VLTs) and criminal laws prohibit the opening up of new casinos.

This represents a relevant opportunity for:

gaming operators and managers since they will be able to set up VLT casinos reproducing the "look and feel" of real casinos and, if this business model is succesful, Italian players are likely to prefer VLT casinos located close to their cities to real casinos that are all located in the North of Italy;
VLT and games manufacturers as it can be confirmed by the last deals advertised on the press; and
providers of services connected to VLT casinos reproducing in some ways the same approach adopted in Las Vegas where casinos are surrounded by a number of side-offered services (e.g. hotels, restaurants, theatres, shopping malls etc.).

The market is still to be created and it will be very interesting to see who will be its main actors.

Interested in more information on the Italian VLT market? Do you want to know the applicable regulatory requirements? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Italian Online Gaming Regime: The Final Green Light from the EU

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:13:00 +0000

As it was foreseeable after the clearance from the European Commission on the decree setting the new licensing regime in Italy, the EC has now decided to close a number of cases relating to Italian gambling laws.

The European Commission had challenged the compliance with the EU principle of freedom to provide services of some restrictions prescribed by Italian gaming laws against foreign operators. Indeed, the old regime required that operators holding an Italian online gaming license had to locate their servers and their company in Italy. On the contrary, as stressed in a previous post, this obligation has now been removed and operators applying for an Italian gaming license will be entitled to locate their legal seat and equipment in any country of the European Economic Area, or in any other country that will enter into bilateral agreements with the Italian Gaming Authority.
In other words, while operators will still need an Italian license to offer their games to Italian residents, they will be able to keep their infrastructure in their country of origin with obvious consequential tax advantages.

This appears to be the end of a long saga that saw a number of disputes before the European Court of Justice in relation to the compliance of the Italian gaming law regime with EU principles and this circumstance might be a further factor boosting the growth of the Italian gaming market.

Do you want to know more about the above? Are you interested in applying for an Italian gaming license? Fee free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Italian Gaming Market: An Impressive Growth!

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:52:00 +0000

As anticipated in a previous post, I have attended the conference “Gioco online: è boom. Tra innovazione e regolamentazione” (Online Gaming: it is a boom. Between innovation and regulation) where the Politecnico di Milano (one of the main Italian Universities) has presented the results of a very detailed study of the Italian online gaming market whose reliability cannot be doubted as it has been drafted in cooperation with the Italian Gaming Authority.

To give you a glance of the results of such study: according to the Politecnico di Milano the turnover of the Italian online gaming market has been of € 3.7 bn in 2009 and it is expected to double in 2010 following the launch of poker cash games and casino games whose regulations have entered into force at the beginning of April. 2.8 ml of online gaming accounts have performed at least a transaction in 2009 and on average a transaction has been carried out on 835,000 gaming accounts per month and around 200,000 new gaming accounts have been opened monthly.

The Politecnico di Milano has also compared the Italian gaming market to other digital markets and such comparison showed that the growth rate of the gaming market is higher than the growth rate of the Italian e-commerce, Internet advertising, digital television and mobile digital contents markets also because the Italian gaming market is not a brand new market for Italians, but it derives in part from the illegal gaming market generated by non-licensed websites. Indeed, the "legal" market set out by the Italian Gaming Authority seems to have attracted a considerable portion of the "illegal" non-licensed gaming market.

These figures are likely to attract more and more operators that, as a consequence of the upcoming approval of the decree on the new Italian gaming licenses regime, will be able to apply for an Italian gaming license at the beginning of May.

If you want more details on the above, feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

New Italian Online Gaming Licenses: Time to Get Ready!

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:34:00 +0000

Dislike what had arisen from the initial rumors, according to the Italian gaming authority the decree regulating the issue of the new Italian online gaming licenses will be passed at the beginning of May.

Operators that intend to enter in the largest European online gaming market should start getting ready, developing a business plan and working on their platforms to make them compliant with Italian gaming law requirements that are very stringent.

As already stressed in a previous post, the peculiarity of the new licensing regime is that it will allow operators to locate their legal seat and equipment in any country of the European Economic Area, or in any other country (e.g. Isle of Man, Alderney etc.) that will enter into bilateral agreements with the Italian Gaming Authority. This means that licensed operators will only be obliged to pay Italian gaming taxes, while they will pay the corporate taxes of the country where they are established as if they do not have infrastructures or personnel in Italy they will not be deemed by Italian tax authorities to have a permanent establishment in Italy.

This will represent a considerable advantage for foreign operators, but obviously only the first comers will be able to take advantage of all the benefits from this market that will be rapidly evolving because of the recent launch of online bingo and the upcoming launch of online poker cash games and casino games that have been regulated at the end of March.

Do you want know more about the above? Are you interested in understanding the requirements prescribed by Italian gaming law? Contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Italian Online Gaming Conference

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 14:34:00 +0000

On 21 April 2010, it will take place at the Politecnico of Milan, one of the main Italian Universities, the conference “Gioco online: è boom. Tra innovazione e regolamentazione” (Online Gaming: it is a boom. Between innovation and regulation). The conference will represent one of the main Italian events on online gaming, with speakers from the Italian Gaming Authority and some of the most relevant gaming operators.

Also, it will be an interesting opportunity for new entrants to better understand the Italian gaming market as the Politecnico of Milan will provide during the conference - equipped with simultaneous English translation facilities - the results of a very detailed research on the Italian online gaming.

If you intend to attend the conference, send an email to me, Giulio Coraggio, so that we can meet there to discuss about Italian online gaming.

Piracy Cannot Be Fought With Self Protection Measures

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:32:00 +0000

Fapav, the Italian Federation Against Audiovideo Piracy, performed through a specialized agency, CoPeerRight Agency, an investigation through which it discovered hundreds of thousands of Telecom Italia (the Italian telephone incumbent) users that had performed 2.5 millions illegal downloads of nine films. However, unfortunately for Fapav, it had been able to identify only the IP address of such users and therefore requested - before the Court of Rome - Telecom Italia to disclose the details of the users connected to such IP addresses so that their conduct could be challenged before judicial authorities and to block the access by Italian residents to some peer to peer websites.

The Court of Rome held that only judicial authorities can order Telecom Italia to perform such activities. Moreover, on the basis of the hosting providers liability exemption prescribed by the EU E-Commerce Directive, Telecom Italia was found not to be liable for the unlawful conduct performed by its users. The company is only obliged to forward to judicial authorities the challenging letters received by copyright holders.

The lesson deriving from this court decision is that copyright holders and their associations cannot autonomously decide the measures that ISPs have to adopt against piracy, but such activities are reserved to judicial authorities. Interests of copyright holders have to be protected, but such protection has to be managed by the competent authorities.

Do you need more information about the above? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Online Shops Cannot Charge Delivery Cost if Customer Withdraws

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:30:00 +0000

The European Court of Justice has issued an interesting decision in the case between Handelsgesellschaft Heinrich Heine GmbH v Verbraucherzentrale. Heinrich Heine, a mail-order company, provides in its general conditions of sale that the consumer is to pay a flat rate charge of € 4.95 for delivery. That sum is not refunded by the supplier even if the consumer exercises his right of withdrawal.

Indeed, the EU Distance Selling Directive 1997/7 regulating any kind of distance contract (i.e. sales through the Internet, telephone, email etc.) prescribes that:

"consumer shall have a period of at least seven working days [that are 10 working days under Italian law] in which to withdraw from the contract without penalty and without giving any reason. The only charge that may be made to the consumer because of the exercise of his right of withdrawal is the direct cost of returning the goods"

The Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen, a German consumer association, brought an action against Heinrich Heine for an injunction to restrain it from continuing with that practice, since it considers that, in the event of withdrawal, delivery costs must not be charged to the consumer.

The European Court of Justice held that the charging of the delivery costs to a consumer exercising the right of withdrawal from the agreement is in contrast with the Distance Selling Directive. Indeed, the rationale behind the Distance Selling Directive is that consumers have to be free in their decision on exercising the right of withdrawal from the agreement and the charging of the delivery cost would in some ways discourage them from taking such decision.

This court decision is relevant and should be carefully taken into account by e-commerce providers also because the Distance Selling Directive is not subject to the principle of the country of origin of the provider, but binds all providers selling their items to consumers located in the EU countries.

Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio, if you need clarifications on the above.

What Will Be the Most Successful Online Casino Game?

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:57:00 +0000

As a consequence of the upcoming launch of online poker cash games and casino games in Italy, Italian players will finally have the possibility to play games that used to play so far only in the 4 Italian real casinos or in foreign casinos through their computers, in their flats seating on their favourite couch. As stressed in my previous post, these new games are expected to be considerably successful and to lead to a relevant increase in the turnover of gaming operators.

Indeed, the decree regulating online poker cash games and casino games will allow Italian licensed operators not only to offer all the card games (including blackjack), under the functionalities single player and multi players, but for the first time also slot-machines, roulette games, dice games and any other games falling under the requirements prescribed by the decree.

It will be interesting to see which game will become the most popular and therefore whether poker games will remain the most attractive games or other games will prevail.

If you want to discuss the above, feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Cash Games and Casino Games: Hard Work for the Engineers

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:47:00 +0000

After the approval of the decree on online casino games and poker cash games, it is time for hard work for gaming engineers. Indeed, the Italian decree on cash games and casino games has required that the gaming platform dedicated to the offer of such games shall comply with some technical specifications and shall be certified by a so called certification entity.

To this purpose, the Italian Gaming Authority has issued the Guidelines for the certification of the gaming platform and the application form and agreement for the certification entities that want to be accredited with the Italian Gaming Authority which is a requirement necessary to be qualified to certify the gaming platforms of Italian licensees.

Considering the impressive potentialities of the Italian gaming market of online cash games and casino games, it is the right time for new entrants in the market to review the technical requirements to which they shall comply if they want to apply for an Italian gaming license.

Do you need more in relation to the above? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Cash Games in Italy: The Greatest Gaming development of the Year?

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:20:00 +0000

As anticipated in a previous post (Cash Games and Casino Games in Italy: the long wait is over), the Italian Gaming Authority has issued the decree regulating online poker cash games and casino games.

Following the successful performance of the required technical authorisation process, Italian licensed operators will be able shortly to offer these new games, which are expected to represent the greatest development in the European gaming market in 2010.

Indeed, such change follows the launch of online skill games (that allowed only tournament based poker games) in 2008 that led Italy to become the greatest online gaming market in Europe, and - according to a market analysis - the launch of poker cash and casino games alone will generate a turnover of respectively €5bn and €3bn in 2010.

This development is likely to encourage more and more operators to enter into the Italian gaming market and such decision will be eased also by the circumstance that the decree regulating the new Italian online gaming licenses - expected to be issued during the next months - will allow operators to locate their legal seat and equipment in any country of the European Economic Area, or in any other country (e.g. Isle of Man, Alderney etc.) that will enter into bilateral agreements with the Italian Gaming Authority.

This means that licensed operators will only be obliged to pay Italian gaming taxes, while they will pay the corporate taxes of the country where they are established.

Given the expected size of the poker cash games and casino games market in Italy, current Italian licensed operators are working non-stop to be among the first ones launching such games and new entrants are reviewing the best strategies to be active in the market under an Italian gaming license in the shortest possible term. Indeed, the increase in the turnover of the Italian gaming market is likely to be accompanied by the implementation of more stringent measures by the Italian Gaming Authority to block the offer of games by operators non-holding an Italian gaming license.
Do you need any information about the Italian regime governing online casino and poker cash games? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

Google AdWords: Landmark Decision of the ECJ

giulio.coraggio@gmail.com (Giulio Coraggio) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 15:26:00 +0000

The European Court of Justice has issued a landmark decision in a dispute between Google and Louis Vuitton concerning Google’s service AdWords.

The dispute arised from a claim brought by Louis Vuitton before the French Court of Cassation as it found out in 2003 that: “the entry, by internet users, of terms constituting its trade marks into Google’s search engine triggered the display, under the heading ‘sponsored links’, of links to sites offering imitation versions of Vuitton’s products. It was also established that Google offered advertisers the possibility of selecting not only keywords which correspond to Vuitton’s trade marks, but also those keywords in combination with expressions indicating imitation, such as ‘imitation’ and ‘copy’”.
Given the uncertainty in relation to the role taken by the advertiser selecting the keywords and by Google itself in the provision of AdWords service, the French Court of Cassation decided to refer the case to the ECJ. Subsequently other disputes arose on the same issue and the ECJ decided to jointly rule on them.

The European Court of Justice held that:

the proprietor of a trade mark is entitled to prohibit an advertiser from advertising, on the basis of a keyword identical with that trade mark which that advertiser has, without the consent of the proprietor, selected in connection with an internet referencing service (i.e. Google AdWords), goods or services identical with those for which that mark is registered;
an internet referencing service provider (i.e. Google) which stores, as a keyword, a sign identical with a trade mark and organises the display of advertisements on the basis of that keyword does not use that sign within the meaning of the Trade Mark Directive 89/104/EEC or of the Trade Mark Regulation (EC) No 40/94;
the hosting providers liability exemption set out in Article 14 of E-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC must be interpreted as applicable to an internet referencing service provider in the case where that service provider has not played an active role of such a kind as to give it knowledge of, or control over, the data stored. In this context, the mere facts that: (i) the referencing service is subject to payment cannot have the effect of depriving Google of hosting provider exemption prescribed by the E-Commerce Directive and (ii) likewise, concordance between the keyword selected and the search term entered by an internet user is not sufficient of itself to justify the view that Google has knowledge of, or control over, the data entered into its system by advertisers and stored in memory on its server.

Interestingly, the same approach referred above has been confirmed by the ECJ in a ruling issued two days later on the case Die BergSpechte Outdoor Reisen und Alpinschule Edi Koblmüller GmbH v Günter Guni, trekking at Reisen GmbH.