On 3 March 2020, the Dutch Minister of Justice responsible for online gambling policy, submitted the Remote Gambling Decree (Besluit Kansspelen op afstand) (the “Decree”) to the Dutch Parliament’s lower chamber, the House of Representatives. The Decree is part of secondary legislation in which the Remote Gambling Bill (Wet Kansspelen op afstand) is further developed and completed. The Decree contains the conditions applicable to online gambling licences and lays out vital secondary regulation…

The SCA states that loot boxes or other gambling-like features in games could be regulated under the Swedish Gambling Act (2018) when prizes from in-game features constitute money or money’s worth (a view shared by the Swedish Gambling Agency “SGA”). If the in-game features have a monetary value from being able to be traded for money or money’s worth (for example through a third part website) then there is a real risk that loot boxes…

On 10 February 2020  an inquiry was launched into the markets for the supply of digital advertising services in Australia.  The Competition and Consumer (Price Inquiry  – Digital Advertising Services) Direction 2020 (Direction), made pursuant to the government’s powers under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (“CCA”), was issued to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (“ACCC”) by the Treasurer, directing the ACCC to give the Treasurer an interim report on its findings by…

The UK Government today published its initial response to the Online Harms consultation, in the first substantive update since the publication of the White Paper in April 2019. The consultation response is described as an indication of the “direction of travel“, and it is clear that we remain at an early stage in the policy development process. Certain things have been clarified, whilst much remains up for grabs. The Government’s full response to the consultation…

The current Australian classification scheme was established in 1995 when Australians had dial-up internet, and Australians were in cinemas watching Babe, watching Neighbours on their televisions and watching the Australian rugby league Super League war play out on the 6pm news. The current classification scheme involves Commonwealth legislation which establishes the framework for classification and labelling of content, in conjunction with state and territory legislation which specify the requirements, offences and penalties for the advertising,…

The lawsuit and the challenged provisions The Swedish Consumer Ombudsman sued Global Gaming’s subsidiary Elec Games for its marketing of the now defunct gambling platform Ninja Casino, alleging a breach of the requirement of “moderation” in marketing of gambling. The rather vague legal concept of “moderation” was introduced in the, now revoked, Swedish Lottery Act in 2017 and can, as of 1 January 2019, be found in the new Swedish Gambling Act. Marketing that is…

Since its passing last year, there has been speculation about whether the UK would implement the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. This week, government minister Chris Skidmore confirmed that there were no plans to do so. Responding to a written question from Jo Steven MP, he stated that: “The deadline for implementing the EU Copyright Directive is 7 June 2021. The United Kingdom will leave the European Union on 31 January 2020 and…