China prepares to allow online gambling in the country. Casino operators are following close behind. Gambling companies are gleefully rubbing their hands together in anticipation for the forthcoming changes to the Chinese gambling law. The country intends to begin regulating gaming rather than outlawing it. This may open the door to a whole new untapped market for many of the operators who were frozen out of the US market over a year ago.

Changes to gambling supervision should set the Island in good stead when the IMF visit in September. Gambling Supervision Commission chairman Claire Milne told members of the Association of Corporate Service Providers that new measures and the change to a non-governmental licensing authority are likely to be viewed positively by the International Monetary Fund.

The explosion of gambling revenue in the Chinese enclave of Macau has other countries in Asia coveting similar riches — while avoiding the downsides that have tarnished Macau in years past. The countries include South Korea, which offers limited gambling to foreigners, and Japan, where only small-stakes, pinball-like devices are legal. These countries want the tourism boost and tax revenue that flow from big casino resorts...

As part of a series of changes to the Law Number 56/2007, published last December 28th, Spain introduced an additional measure in which the government is forced to approve, in a year, a law in which games and bets are regulated, “in particular those made by interactive systems based in electronic communications”. One of the principles to which the law should attend, is the following:

Several companies that in recent weeks announced online lottery initiatives with counterparts in China are halting operations pending more clarity on their overall legality in the wake of a statement this week from the Ministry Of Information Industry and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). Proposed new regulations set to go into affect at the end of the month have been designed to crack down on the explosion of audio-visual content on the Internet.

The Senate asked the government to present both bills in order to regulate Internet betting systems, through measures to encourage the Information Society Law. This bill was supported by the whole chamber but Grupo Popular, although this association allowed the introduction of some novelties in the text, such as the named Internet betting regulation. All the parliamentary groups agreed to introduce a transactional amendment in order to regulate online gaming.

As the contentious trade dispute between Europe and the US over Internet gaming industry continues, the British Government said it favored US regulation of Internet gambling as opposed to prohibition. "The British Government has signaled quite clearly its support for regulation rather than prohibition of gambling by the recent implementation of the (Unlawful Internet) Gambling Act," said Emily Bourne...

Ireland could be about to sort out its outdated laws relating to AWP machines. Irish Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan, has stated that a report from the country’s Casino Regulation Committee will be presented to the Cabinet in the near future. The Cabinet is likely to ask a Parliamentary Select Committee to consider the report before deciding what type of regulations to introduce.

In public interest, the High Court ruled that the casinos schedule shall be regulated to protect would-be weak and compulsive members of society from exploitation through addiction. This was after the chairman, secretary and treasurer of the Association of Gaming Operators Kenya (AGOK), who had sought an order of certiorari to quash the decision of the Betting Control and Licensing Board, lost their application.

Within the Law of measures to promote the information society, Spanish political party Partido Popular (PP), has presented a group of measures to regulate the online bets in the Congress. The party is in favour of the legalization on the issue in order to finish with the legal void in online gaming. Aming its proposals it aims to bring the state wide competences on the matter and bring the same powers to regional governments in cases such as advertising and the services offered to the customers.

Macao (Xinhua) -- The government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) is to amend regulations to curb teenage gambling, local media reported Friday. Macao Daily News, the leading local Chinese-language newspaper, quoted MSAR Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah as saying that the new rules will bar those unqualified for the casino entry from gaining prize money that they win.

Head of political party Convergencia in the state of Nuevo León, Ernesto Cerda Serna, demanded the approval of the Law of Games and Draws modification, in order to regulate the operation of casinos and gambling venues. In this context, it demanded the House of Legislators to pass the modifications to the Law of Games and Draws in order to stop the proliferation of these businesses, supported by the current regulation.