ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — (Marketwire) — 12/27/11 — Spectrum Gaming Group, an independent research and professional services firm that pioneered the study of public policy with respect to Internet gaming in the United States, cautions that government agencies and gaming operators seeking to legalize online wagering need to carefully consider certain precautionary measures.
Suggested steps include:
Establish a regulatory and licensing structure that requires i-gaming operators and suppliers to adhere to similar standards that already apply to land-based gaming.
Ensure that i-gaming legislation and regulations are designed to advance overall public policy, including existing policies governing land-based gaming that encourage capital investment, employment and tourism development, among other policies.
Coordinate disparate gaming policies that presently govern lotteries, casinos and other forms of gaming to ensure that online gaming does not conflict with such policies and practices, but rather advances overall policy.
“The recent U.S. Department of Justice opinion that the Wire Act of 1961 applies to sports wagering, and not to other forms of online gambling such as intrastate lotteries or poker, is being viewed as a flashing green light for the legalization of online gaming in the U.S.,” said Spectrum Managing Director Fredric E. Gushin. “But we suggest it is also flashing yellow: Congress, state and tribal governments would be wise to not relax licensing standards or controls that have bolstered public confidence in gaming for several decades.”
Gushin, a former assistant director and assistant Attorney General in the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, heads all of Spectrum-s licensing and investigative work, which ranges from Singapore to Ohio, and from Puerto Rico to Maine and Maryland. He is spearheading Spectrum-s efforts to work with U.S. tribal and commercial operators that need to investigate the suitability and character of European and Asian suppliers seeking to do business in the U.S.
Nearly a decade ago, Spectrum Managing Director Michael Pollock developed the Spectrum Internet Gambling Heuristic Theorem (SIGHT), which has accurately charted the evolution of i-gaming policy.
“Our years of research in this field indicate that policies governing online wagering cannot be developed in a vacuum, and should be coordinated with other policies to maximize employment, investment and revenue from all sources,” Pollock said. “If online gaming is legalized solely as a new source of tax revenue, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will have been squandered. This is true for tribal, state and federal governments.”
Spectrum-s background in U.S. policy on online gaming is unparalleled:
Spectrum has conducted numerous due diligence investigations involving Internet gaming for national, tribal and state governments — and for private clients.
Spectrum is a founding member of Global i-Gaming Advisors (GiGA), a best-of-breed partnership with H2 Gambling Capital and Gaming Edge Associates, two of the world-s leading research and advisory firms in Internet gambling.
Spectrum-s Senior Associate for Online Gaming is one of the world-s foremost experts in Internet
Spectrum chaired the 2011 and 2010 Global iGaming Summit & Expos in San Francisco and Montreal and chaired the 2011 and 2010 European iGaming Congress & Expos in Milan and Copenhagen.
Our principals have offered Internet gaming-related testimony before the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee, the New Jersey Assembly Tourism and Gaming Committee, as well as at numerous conferences.
Spectrum authored an analysis titled “Contractual Issues Arising from the Affiliate/Online Gambling Operator Relationship” in the December 2010 issue of World Online Gambling Law Report.
Spectrum keeps its subscription clients abreast of U.S. Internet-gambling developments with its United States Internet Gambling Watch, a quarterly publication that updates and analyses.
Among the many engagements Spectrum has undertaken related to Internet gambling:
Spectrum authored the October 2010 white paper, Internet Gambling Developments in International Jurisdictions: Insights for Indian Nations. Commissioned by the 184-member National Indian Gaming Association, the report examined the development and status of Internet gambling in Europe, and suggested strategies for entering the likely Internet gambling market in the United States.
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