The German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) will pronounce its leading decision on sports betting on the 28th March 2006. The long-awaited leading decision of the Federal Constitutional Court is finally going to be pronounced. As the Court announced in a press-release today, it will pronounce and explain its decision on the 28th March 2006 at 10:00 a.m. (Case No. 1 BvR 1054/01). As already reported, this case concerns a Munich bookmaker, Irene Katzinger-Göth, who filed a constitutional complaint against a decision rendered by the Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht), rejecting her application for a sports betting licence.

As a result of the plenary vote on the 1st reading of the EU Framework Services Directive, which took place in the European Parliament on the 16th of February 2006, gambling is no longer contained in the Directive. It is now more likely that countries will be forced to recognize that current European law already permits cross-border gambling within the EU, ultimately through European Court of Justice rulings and infringement proceedings by the Commission. When it was initiated in January 2004, the scope of the Services Directive did cover gambling but with an ultimate implementation date of 2010.

People active in E-Commerce are as a rule subject to the German Act on Protection of Data in Telecommunication Services (TDDSG), a body of rules targeted specifically to telecommunication services which, among other things, include homepages or mobile services. In certain cases – for instance for the transmission of advertising in the form of a newsletter – the TDDSG only allows the collection of data if the person concerned has given his consent. The question how such a consent in the sense of the TDDSG would have to be designed, has so far been unclear. A decision by the OLG (Higher Regional Court) of Brandenburg has now thrown some light on the subject (Judgement of 11.01.2006, ref. 12 O 287/04). It had to decide on the practise for consent used by the online auction house eBay.

An American gaming corporation has failed in a High Court attempt to prevent The Birmingham Post from publishing financial information and contractual details of a super-casino at the new Birmingham City stadium. Las Vegas Sands sought a judicial review against a decision by Birmingham City Council to release confidential documents about the proposed casino under the Freedom of Information Act.

The National Council on Problem Gambling kicked off an education campaign this week by noting that 2 percent to 3 percent of Americans - or about 6 to 9 million adults - have gambling problems. Numbers can be worth a thousand words. They also can have political and social implications. That's why the National Council's estimate is bad news for the casino industry - it's two or three times as high as the 1 percent rate often cited by the industry.

Owners of the soon-to-open Red Rock hotel-resort have agreed to limit the height of their proposed condo towers making them no higher than the hotel towers. The agreement, which should be approved by the county later this month, is designed to appease some Summerlin residents who have opposed the project all along. But despite that rocky start with its neighbors, the Red Rock resort is preparing for its grand opening in April promising to be the next hot spot for locals.

A strong increase in international visitors has lifted attendance levels at the 2006 Amusement Trades Exhibition International (ATEI), International Casino Exhibition (ICE) and interactive gaming show (ICEi) to unprecedented levels with the overall participation reaching an all-time high of 24,913. Marking a 2.6 per cent increase on the 2005 record-breaking figure of 24,278, this year’s London Show, which took place at Earls Court Exhibition Centre on 24-26 January, comprised 15,114 ATEI-dedicated visitors and 9,799 in ICE/ICEi.

Betting on sporting events in Germany is enjoying ever increasing popularity. According to a study by the Cologne institute "Sport + Markt" around 7 million German citizens are already active gamblers and some 10.4 million take an interest in betting services. Within the market, there is particular potential for mobile betting. Providers of mobile betting and gambling services are themselves betting on gambling enthusiasts’ desire to place bets on their favourites on the way to or at sporting events. But how does that work if you're already en route to the stadium and you want to quickly put some money on your team?

The fact that M-Commerce has a large potential for development has in the meantime become common knowledge (we reported on this subject in BLN 09/2005); Mobile Gaming in particular is attributed with considerable growth opportunities. Looking closer at all the things that are now called "Mobile Gaming", one cannot help but think that the term has become just as dazzling, colourful and contourless as the slogan "Multimedia" was in the 90s.

The Victorian casino regulator said yesterday its investigation into James Packer's Macau joint venture would probably be finalised more quickly if the operational role of gaming godfather Stanley Ho's company was scrapped.

Mr McDowell said they were operating under the guise of private members' clubs, but were essentially casinos. "Casinos are illegal in Ireland. All commercial clubs where unlawful gaming takes place are illegal in Ireland," he said.

It looks a whole lot like the Strip, but the world's newest collection of mega-resorts is on the other side of the planet. News 3's Steve Crupi recently returned from a special assignment in China where he got an up-close look at the amazing building boom in Macau, a destination that calls itself "Asia's Las Vegas."