MMO operators at risk of breaking law from September

Vikingod · Jul 4, 2007, 05:24 PM

Source: GamesIndustry
____________
Law firm Campbell Hooper has warned that unless they take action now, some MMO operators risk their games being deemed illegal when a new law comes into force later this year.

"In September the remaining provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 will finally come into force. Its main purpose is to update the law on gambling, which in some cases is over 50 years old and is therefore inadequate for the modern world," Campbell Hooper's Alex Chapman told GamesIndustry.biz.

The Act is designed to regulate online gambling, which companies will be able to operate from within the UK for the first time. However, massively multiplayer online games which offer prizes will also be subject to the new laws.

Judas · Jul 4, 2007, 05:38 PM

ok....i think a line is being crossed here...

when a MMO, a game, has minigames within them where there is a chance of failure or a chance of success, it's considered a gamble yes, but in all honesty, to the point of making it ilegal in the way they have..... that's outright rediculious.

I mean paying to play bingo is a damn gamble.

Vikingod · Jul 4, 2007, 06:01 PM

I think its more indicative that the laws written concerning the net have a fatal flaw. It would appear this was never addressed when the law was writen. Its up to the industry and their advocates to make sure this sort of stuff it clear, and not some sort of guessing game.

Brutality · Jul 5, 2007, 01:53 AM

So, no more over enchanting weapons? Lol @ US rules... Just lol.

And suddenly UK became to be US. Blitzkrieg? Nah...just a typo.

Tipstaff · Jul 5, 2007, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brutality

So, no more over enchanting weapons? Lol @ US rules... Just lol.

And suddenly UK became to be US. Blitzkrieg? Nah...just a typo.

Nope. Not a typo. Campbell Hooper is a UK law firm based in London, and gamesindustry.biz is a UK site as well. This isn't a change in US law, it's in British law. The main idea is that up until now any company based in the UK couldn't locally host an online gambling site. Now they can. US law was changed over a month ago to make Internet gambling legal.. which, coincidentally, just happened to be at the same time they passed the Internet Gambling Tax Act.

Problem is that any MMO that has servers based locally within the UK will now fall under this new law IF the winner of a prize is playing on that local server. But if there is no local UK server, or you are playing on a non local server, then it's not a problem... or at least is shouldn't be.

Brutality · Jul 5, 2007, 11:48 AM

Lol... I first typoed UK into US. The second line was the edit line. I wonder why the forum doesnt show that i have edited the post

.

Judas · Jul 5, 2007, 04:45 PM

if you edit it soon enough, it won't say you've edited.

Jul 4, 2007, 05:24 PM	#1
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,197 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	MMO operators at risk of breaking law from September Source: GamesIndustry ____________ Law firm Campbell Hooper has warned that unless they take action now, some MMO operators risk their games being deemed illegal when a new law comes into force later this year. "In September the remaining provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 will finally come into force. Its main purpose is to update the law on gambling, which in some cases is over 50 years old and is therefore inadequate for the modern world," Campbell Hooper's Alex Chapman told GamesIndustry.biz. The Act is designed to regulate online gambling, which companies will be able to operate from within the UK for the first time. However, massively multiplayer online games which offer prizes will also be subject to the new laws.

Jul 4, 2007, 06:01 PM	Thread Starter #3
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,197 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	I think its more indicative that the laws written concerning the net have a fatal flaw. It would appear this was never addressed when the law was writen. Its up to the industry and their advocates to make sure this sort of stuff it clear, and not some sort of guessing game.

Jul 5, 2007, 01:53 AM	#4
Brutality DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 887 Rep Power: 0	So, no more over enchanting weapons? Lol @ US rules... Just lol. And suddenly UK became to be US. Blitzkrieg? Nah...just a typo.

Jul 5, 2007, 11:48 AM	#6
Brutality DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 887 Rep Power: 0	Lol... I first typoed UK into US. The second line was the edit line. I wonder why the forum doesnt show that i have edited the post .