In a recent landmark decision, Netherlands Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State strengthened the rights of skill games providers in the use of in-game loot boxes.

Austrian legislation establishes a State monopoly over games of chance, with the effect that the right to organise and operate games of chance is, in principle, reserved to the State. The federal law in force is intended, in particular, to regulate games of chance with a view to their supervision and to enable the State to derive the maximum amount of revenue from them. The Federal Minister for Finance is permitted to grant a total of 12 concessions entitling their holders to organise and operate gaming establishments.

In Germany, jurisdiction over gambling is divided between the federal State and the Länder. In most of the Länder, there is a regional monopoly for the organisation of sporting bets and lotteries, while the organisation of bets on horse racing and the operation of gaming machines and casinos are entrusted to duly-authorised private operators.

Banned since 1946, the games of chance could be approved again in Brazil. The bill, that plans the return of casinos, bingo halls and video lotteries to the country, has been treated in the Chamber of Representatives and was already approved in the Commission of Economic, Industry and Commercial Development.

Chilean casinos could be forced to inform about the addiction that games of chance can cause when they become a frequent practice, because some senators have pointed that the inauguration of new gambling venues could increase cases of people with gambling problems. Senator Ricardo Nuñez has just presented in Chile a modification to the norm that forces these operators to "show warnings in casinos about gambling addiction”.

Through the task of the control and formalization of the activity of casinos and slots, the Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Tourism (Mincetur), achieved, during 2008, a record collection of USD 54.4 million. Last year, the monthly collection exceeded USD 5,132,433 in some months, considering that during 2006, the monthly collection of tax games was an average of USD 801,943.

The government aims to increase games of chance in the country by the latest term of its mandate. It plans to open 13 gambling venues, mainly slots, which would be added to the existing 34, and to local casinos of Carrasco and Parque Hotel. Most of the new casino will be operated through a mixed operating system between the Casino General Direction of the country and private businessmen which present projects of tourist and commercial interest.

The Government Commission approved, in general, the initiative that changes articles 3, 4 and 7 of the Federal Law of Games of Chance, that stipulates that regional and local authorities have to participate, together with Segob, in the authorization to betting business. President of the legislative instance, Diodóro Carrasco Altamirano (PAN), commented that the initiative does not take away faculties to the Segob with regards to the issuance of licenses on the matter.

EU countries showed their division up to the possibility to create a common games of chance regulation. The United Kingdom, Austria and Malta are the ones that showed more opposition, unlike others like Spain, that suggested to keep on working on the matter. Countries in favor of harmonizing national legislations emphasized in the need to continue analyzing the particular features of the sector...

Commission of Constitution, Justice and Citizenship (CCJ) approved last week the bill presented by senator Jarbas Vasconcelos (PMDB-PE), who criminalizes games of chance operation, including traditional “juego del bicho”and electronic games. The proposal (PLS 274/06) withdraws the games of chance operators from the Law of Penal Violation (Decree-Law 3.688/41) to insert it in the Penal Code (Decreree-Law nº 2.848/40).

The online expenditure in games of chance has increased fivefold in Spain this year compared to 2007, according to the information released by Spanish Federation of Recovered Games of Chance Players (FEJAR), that organized its tenth national congress Matalascañas (Huelva). FEJAR has claimed in Matalascañas that the administration should regulate the access to Internet games...

The National Games of Chance Commission (Conajzar) cannot tender games whose licenses have concluded, because the government did not release the decree in which it names new members, according to Law 1016/97. The Representative of the Ministry of Finance, Cristhian Vera, stayed on his own after President Fernando Lugo took charge of the government last August 15th.