Saturday, March 03, 2007

Meanwhile, John Anderson, the former chief executive of 888 Holdings, has
been summoned for interview by the French authorities, prompting speculation
that French authorities are about to crackdown on online gambling. This in
itself is prompting speculation that the French and American governments
actually agree on something. After the US clampdown on internet gambling
last October, the last thing PartyGaming and other gambling groups need is
yet more uncertainty over the legality of their operations. While current
legal opinion says that online gambling is legal in the EU, our Gallic
friends have been lobbying against this. It is probably no coincidence that
the French government controls two related gambling monopolies - PMU for
betting and Francaise de Jeux for gaming. The success of online gambling
constitutes a threat to these operations. 888 has marketed itself
aggressively in France, including a short-lived shirt sponsorship deal with
Toulouse FC. This was before French football authorities banned online
gambling firms from such marketing. It is believed that the French
authorities' request to question 888's John Anderson has something to do
with this sponsorship deal.