Neowin News Feed for: Gambling

UK Treasury Committee says consumer crypto trading should be regulated as gambling

Paul Hill — Thu, 18 May 2023 14:22:01 +0000

The UK Treasury Committee has said consumer trading and investing in crypto should be regulated as gambling rather than as a financial service. It said crypto has no intrinsic value. Read more...

UK won't regulate video game loot boxes, despite gambling risk

Paul Hill — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 17:58:01 +0000

The UK government has decided not to regulate video game loot boxes under gambling legislation. Despite this, it wants game publishers to tell players their odds of winning certain items. Read more...

UK House of Lords calls for loot boxes to be considered gambling

João Carrasqueira — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 11:06:01 +0000

The House of Lords committee focused on assessing the impact of gambling in the UK has called on the government to bring loot boxes under gambling regulations due to their game-of-chance nature. Read more...

Egypt's Grand Mufti issues fatwa against bitcoin

Paul Hill — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 18:10:01 +0000

The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Sheikh Shawki Allam, has issued a fatwa against the use of bitcoin largely due to the risks he perceives with the cryptocurrency for individuals, groups, and institutions. Read more...

Belgium officially declares loot boxes a form of gambling

Dreyer Smit — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 09:30:01 +0000

After it concluded its investigation in games such as Star Wars: Battlefront II and Overwatch, the Belgium Gaming Commission concluded that loot boxes constituted a form of gambling and were dangerous Read more...

Belgium investigating Overwatch and Battlefront II over loot crates

Dreyer Smit — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 08:26:01 +0000

After the significant backlash over Star Wars: Battlefront II misusing the 'loot system' in a bid to extract more revenue out of gamers, the Belgium authorities have initiated an investigation. Read more...

UK government to hear questions surrounding loot box 'exploitation'

Dreyer Smit — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 14:06:01 +0000

The UK government has officially received questions surrounding the controversial practice of loot boxes and micro-transactions which some have labeled as a form of gambling that should be regulated. Read more...

Sorry, but the ESRB declared Loot Boxes not a form of gambling

Dreyer Smit — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 08:10:01 +0000

With gamers feeling done in with developers using micro-transactions in games as a means to make additional money, it has been argued that this represented gambling, however, the ESRB does not agree. Read more...

Valve to Washington regulators on gambling: Tell us which law we're breaking or go away

Vlad Dudau — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 13:52:01 +0000

Valve has sent a formal letter to the Washington state Gambling Commission, explaining that the company did not engage in gambling. It also asked to see which specific law it was accused of breaking. Read more...

Valve starts cracking down on Counter-Strike and Dota gambling websites

Boyd Chan — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 12:44:01 +0000

In response to a potential class action lawsuit, Valve has issued cease and desist letters to 23 websites in an attempt to eliminate unauthorized gambling of in-game items. Read more...

Indonesian police raid Gameloft office mistaking it for a gambling den

Usama Jawad — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 18:02:01 +0000

This Monday, Gameloft's Indonesian branch was unexpectedly raided by the police. Why? The police were under the impression that it was a secret illegal online gambling den. Read more...

Racist advertising: bet you won't see that again?

Andrew Fairbairn — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:53:26 +0000

There was an outcry earlier this week when it was discovered that Microsoft had digitally altered a publicity photograph by superimposing the head of a white person onto a black person's body. Now to add... Read more...

EU Probes US Online Gambling Laws

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:56:33 +0000

The European Union launched an investigation today into U.S. laws on Internet gambling, after European betting companies complained that Washington's actions against them were infringing world trade rules. Online gambling is a growing business, worth... Read more...

Microsoft, Google, Yahoo Settle Gambling Charges

Daniel Fleshbourne — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:28:30 +0000

Microsoft, Google and Yahoo have agreed to pay a total of US$31.5 million to resolve claims that they promoted illegal gambling, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday. Microsoft will pay $21 million, Google will... Read more...

U.S. reaches Deal on Internet Gambling

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:18:19 +0000

The United States has reached a deal with the European Union, Japan and Canada to keep its Internet gambling market closed to foreign companies, but is continuing talks with India, Antigua and Barbuda, Macau and... Read more...

U.S. To Keep Internet Gambling Ban

Sat, 05 May 2007 20:06:54 +0000

The United States will maintain a ban on Internet gambling services despite an adverse World Trade Organization ruling, meaning other WTO members can seek potential damages at the WTO. Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John Veroneau... Read more...

FBI checks out gambling in 'Second Life'

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:43:46 +0000

FBI investigators have visited Second Life's Internet casinos at the invitation of the virtual world's creator Linden Lab, but the U.S. government has not decided on the legality of virtual gambling. "We have invited the... Read more...

Online gambling hit by 15% tax (UK)

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 21:32:15 +0000

Online gambling companies have condemned a new 15% tax set by Gordon Brown. The rate, which takes effect from April 1, is in line with tax imposed on other forms of gambling but is much... Read more...

Arrests Deal Huge Blow to Online Gambling

Sat, 20 Jan 2007 06:58:23 +0000

NETeller founders John Lefebvre and Stephen Lawrence were arrested and charged with processing gambling proceeds. The pair illegally handled and processed billions of dollars generated from online gambling. Details for the arrest are unclear but... Read more...

Citibank to block Net gambling transactions

Sun, 16 Jun 2002 10:53:41 +0000

Citibank, the nation's largest credit card issuer, has agreed to block all online gambling transactions that use its credit cards, the state attorney general said Friday. The agreement announced by the bank and... Read more...

Orange jumps into mobile gambling market

Mon, 08 Apr 2002 04:52:01 +0000

Orange has teamed up with ukbetting to enable punters to place bets on tomorrow's Martell Grand National from their mobile phones. The service, which went live yesterday and is the first of... Read more...