Compliance Updates
PHAI Files Class Action Against DraftKings in Massachusetts
The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) and its Center for Public Health Litigation filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Massachusetts citizens who opened DraftKings Sportsbook accounts in response to a $1000 bonus sign-up promotion that the gambling company widely advertised. The Institute is based at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston.
The lawsuit alleges that members of the class were not aware that, in order to qualify for the sign-up bonus of $1000, new customers were required to make an initial deposit of $5000. After that, they had to gamble $25,000 on certain qualifying bets over a finite time period. If they did all of that, they would qualify to receive non-withdrawable credits to use on the platform.
Plaintiffs Shane Harris and Melissa Scanlon responded to the offer and were confused as to why they never received the $1000 sign-up bonus. The Institute’s executive director, Mark Gottlieb, said “Shane and Melissa are typical of many thousands of people in Massachusetts who were misled by the bonus offer and would not have signed up had they understood DraftKings’ unfair and deceptive requirements.”
Massachusetts is one of 38 states that has approved sports betting in the past five years since the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way in the Murphy v. NCAA decision.
PHAI’s gambling policy advisor, Harry Levant, a therapist who treats patients with Gambling disorder, noted that “Gambling is a known addictive product similar to heroin, opioids, tobacco, alcohol, and cocaine.” Levant is also a doctoral student in Law and Public Policy at Northeastern who studies the public health impact of online gambling. “The time has come to bring public health reform and regulation to the gambling industry because lives are in the balance” Levant concluded.
Northeastern University Distinguished Professor of Law, Richard Daynard, who is also president of the Institute, is well-known for his pioneering work to hold tobacco companies liable for their products’ harms in court. “Online gambling is creating a public health disaster with increasingly addictive products right before our eyes,” said Daynard. “In fact,” he continued, “massive advertising using unfair and deceptive promotions to hook customers on an addictive product bears an uncanny similarity to what the cigarette companies used to get away with.”
Department of Trust (dotrust.co.uk), the award-winning provider of financial risk assessments for safer gambling is poised to meet the challenges of the newly announced regulations on frictionless financial checks by the UK Gambling Commission and Betting and Gaming Council.
Under the new rules published by the Gambling Commission, operators have until August 30th to implement frictionless checks on all customers making £500 net deposits in any rolling 30-day period. These frictionless checks form part of a new regime designed to protect players at risk of financial harm and replace the current ad hoc approach to affordability checks.
Department of Trust also welcomes the interim voluntary code published today by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), the standards body representing over 90% of UK-regulated market operators. This code focuses on how responsible operators should support customers spending above the lower threshold set out by the Gambling Commission.
The supplier’s DoTrust Complete solution offers an integrated suite of frictionless and enhanced financial risk checks with a high level of automation capability -the only such tool built solely for safer gambling – and is perfectly positioned to help businesses navigate the newly regulated waters.
Charles Cohen, CEO of Department of Trust, said: “These important announcements flag the end of gambling’s ‘sus law’ where players faced seemingly arbitrary requests for personal information, operators were placed under a significant burden, and no one won
“We now know that in 120 days, every operator will need to perform frictionless checks on all players with net deposits in a 30-day rolling period of £500. A few months later this will fall to a much lower level.
“If operators want to protect their business, keep their customers and reduce costs, smart automation is the only answer.
“Department of Trust has spent over two years building the leading plug-and-play solution specifically for the gambling industry. Complete already automates over 90% of the processes required in both the new LCCP and BGC code. Now we know what the requirement will be, we are today committing to the goal of 100%. We want every operator and player to have instant assessments and sensible decisions cost-effectively. No one needs to lose sleep over this.”.
The post Department of Trust set to meet challenges of new affordability checks appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Swedish gaming giants’ games now available in the province of Córdoba’s newly regulated market
Play’n GO, the world’s leading casino entertainment provider, has today announced their expansion into yet another new regulated market, as the Swedish gaming giant has agreed a partnership with Betsson in the province of Córdoba, Argentina.
Argentina is currently in a process of regulation for online gaming purposes on a province-by-province basis, and the partnership with Betsson sees Play’n GO enter yet another regulated market, keeping up the momentum from 2023 that saw the company expand its global reach.
This announcement sees Betsson’s players in Córdoba gain access to Play’n GO’s entire catalogue of games, including classics such as Book of Dead, Reactoonz, and Moon Princess.
This announcement is a signal of intent from Play’n GO, who reiterate their commitment to be present in every regulated market in the world.
Michele Stefanelli, Sales Leader, LATAM and Southern Europe, Play’n GO said: “Our first foray into a new region is always exciting for us, and we’re looking forward to a successful partnership with Betsson in Córdoba. Players around the world, and especially in the LATAM region, have already shown their fondness for our content, and we’re quietly confident that this new region will be no different. We are on record with our commitment to a safe, regulated industry, and we’re very pleased to see that approach rolled out globally by lawmakers and operators alike.”
Maximiliano Bellio, Managing Director Betsson Argentina, added: “We’re pleased to welcome Play’n GO to the Betsson family here in the Córdoba region, and we look forward to many years of success together. Like Play’n GO, Betsson is committed to a sustainable industry model, so this partnership makes perfect sense for both parties. We’re sure our players will be as excited as we are once they start playing these games that have proven so popular around the world, so let’s get started.”
Play’n GO’s games are already available in the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires Province within Argentina’s federal system.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
OpenBet bolsters compliance technologies with the launch of geolocation product, OpenBet Locator™, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS)
OpenBet Locator provides a highly flexible, low latency and scalable alternative for global betting and gaming marketplace
OpenBet, a leading content, platform and service provider to the global betting industry, has bolstered its modular product portfolio with the launch of its new flexible and scalable geolocation product – OpenBet Locator.
Built on the backbone of Amazon Web Services (AWS), OpenBet’s strategic cloud provider, OpenBet Locator is a low latency solution that enables operators worldwide to locate, promote to, and monitor customers, remaining fully compliant with regulatory requirements.
The technology strengthens OpenBet’s reputation for market-leading player protection and compliance following the company’s acquisition of Neccton in 2023. With OpenBet’s regulatory reach and multiple licenses, brands will be able to ensure seamless and swift integration of its trusted and compliant technology into their ecosystem.
Initially targeting the North American market, the solution will feature a number of components, such as:
- Fully flexible geo-fence management and high precision location tracking
- Fraud prevention combined with real-time virtual private network (VPN) and location spoofing detection
- Player targeting for customer relationship management (CRM), data analysis and in-venue promotions
- Multi-tenanted solution that supports travelling wallet
- Easy and flexible configuration options to streamline business operations workflows
The product is underpinned by OpenBet’s unrivalled expertise within the global betting industry and is designed to remove the friction of geolocation to the end-customer’s onboarding process.
Jordan Levin, CEO of OpenBet, said: “Introducing OpenBet Locator is an exciting move for us and takes our modular product offering to a new level. Built in-house and leveraging AWS technology, we have developed a strong proposition that can be tailored to meet unique business needs.
“As a pioneer within the global sports betting arena for over 25 years, we have an in-depth understanding of the challenges and opportunities operators face within highly regulated markets. OpenBet Locator is a scalable, compliant and dependable geolocation solution that removes the barriers to operators’ success.”
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