Louisville, Kentucky - Kentucky authorities want to seize 140 Internet domain names, saying the web sites bring illegal gambling within the borders of the commonwealth. Attorneys for a trade association for the gambling web sites countered that Kentucky lacks the authority to make that move because the domain names aren't property and, besides, they are based offshore and beyond Kentucky's jurisdiction. A three-judge appeals court panel in Kentucky is now weighing whether a state can seized a web site domain name to curtail gambling within its borders...

The American Gaming Association spent USD 400,000 over the third quarter of 2008 to lobby for legislation that would legalize and regulate online gambling along with other matters. According to a piece in the Boston Globe, the group’s most recent disclosure report showed that it lobbied The White House, the Department of Interior, the Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service and Congress from July to September.

Benno Schneider, president of the Swiss Gaming Board, has called for a lifting of the ban on online gaming for national operators in order to test and monitor their quality, and to test the viability of generating revenues from taxes on domestic providers. Speaking to the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, Schneider said that he felt that it would be beneficial to see how a lifting of the prohibition would work.

A joint investigation by The Washington Post’s two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Gilbert M. Gaul and CBS News’ 60 Minutes takes an in-depth look at the two largest cases of online gambling fraud in the history of Internet poker. They find that Internet gambling sites operate in a shadowy world of little regulation and even less enforcement, and weigh the reasoning behind the US government’s ban on the industry.

Washington, D.C. - "The recent cheating scandals underscore the need for U.S. licensing and regulation of online poker to help protect consumers. While even the most highly regulated industries are susceptible to fraud and abuse, regulation does provide assurances that when consumers are harmed they have recourse, and that the offenders will be sanctioned.

Zbigniew Macioszek, a prominent member of the largest land-based casino operator in Poland, Casinos Poland, has expressed his thoughts on government regulation of online casinos in his country. With the recent explosion in online gambling there, he feels this would be a good step for Poland. Casinos Poland, which was launched in 1988 and claims to have a 55.28 % share of the domestic market, operates seven full casinos throughout the nation alongside six slots venues...

Die Bemühungen des holländischen Justizministeriums ein Gesetz im UIGEA Stil zum Verbot von nicht staatlichen Glücksspielen einzuführen stießen auf heftige Opposition durch die holländische Bankenbranche, welche kein Interesse an einem Gesetzespaket hat, welches nach ihrer Ansicht lästig und undurchführbar ist. Das Online Gambling Gesetz des holländischen Justizminister's Ernst Ballin, welches er am Anfang des Jahres 2008 vorstellte...

Last week, South African Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel, publicised a new bill being proposed to the government: the Interactive Gaming Tax Bill. By allowing online gambling to exist but regulating and taxing them, South Africa has created a stable industry with less black market activity than that of the US, critics claim. This measure, if undertaken, will tax gross gambling revenue outside of operators within the online gambling industry.

Three civil liberties groups urged a Kentucky appeals court to overturn the seizure of domain names for some of the world's most popular gambling sites, arguing the move is based on "incorrect factual assumptions" and violates Free Speech guarantees and other provisions of the US Constitution. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology...

Washington (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve issued a final rule on Wednesday aimed at stopping illegal Internet gambling, two days after a leading Democratic lawmaker called for a delay because of the problems he said it would cause for banks. The regulation pleased Republican lawmakers, who still controlled the Congress in 2006 when it passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has asked Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to postpone issuing regulations opposed by banks and other financial groups that would implement a ban on Internet gambling. The “midnight rulemaking” would “tie the hands of the new administration, burden the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis and contradict the stated intent of the Financial Services Committee,” Frank wrote in a letter to Paulson and Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Following Bermuda Premier Emil Brown’s announcement that the island nation is considering modeling itself as a base for online casinos, another politician has issued a warning. Finance Minister Bob Richards is worried such a move could anger the United States. Brown stated reasons for welcoming Internet gambling sites to operate from Bermuda would be a major boost in jobs and revenue, and establish economic growth based on more than just tourism.