New Isle of Man Online Gambling Regulations

Published: Friday, January 27, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

MORE CHANGES TO ISLE OF MAN ONLINE GAMBLING REGULATIONS

Major shift in online gambling software testing - move is to outcomes based testing and monitoring

The Isle of Man government used the recent platform of the International Casino Exhibition this week to publicise regulatory changes to its Online Gaming Regulation Act 2001 (OGRA).

The changes include a major move to outcomes-based software testing, something which the Malta and Kahnawake jurisdictions have recently agreed to in their closer relationships with the private standards body eCOGRA.

A Isle of Man spokesman said the aim of the changes is to improve the island's regulatory framework to make it more attractive to licensees in order to develop the online gambling sector and the contribution it makes to the Isle of Man's economy.

The new framework was developed in conjunction with London law firm Berwin Leighton-Paisner and the head of its gaming and betting practice, Hillary Stewart-Jones.

Bill Mummery, head of online gambling development for the Isle of Man government, said: "The island has seen significant progress in recent years in attracting leaders from key sectors including Microgaming, Neteller and PokerStars. These legislative changes, produced with the support of Berwin Leighton-Paisner, will increase the competitive advantage for the island's economy and its operators."

The changes centre around three key areas: software testing, disaster recovery provision and advertising & marketing.

The emphasis for online gambling software testing will be on reducing the cost and complexity of compliance for licence holders by simplifying the software approval process, which it aims to achieve by moving to a 'results and output'-based system of testing.

The updates relating to disaster recovery will allow operators licensed in other jurisdictions to make use of the telecoms infrastructure and IT skills available on the island to provide disaster recovery and off line data storage facilities in support of their global operations

New regulations will enable the specialised activities of advertising and marketing to be established, managed and controlled from the island in support of their clients.

"These are exciting and dynamic times and the Isle of Man with its 0 percent corporate tax strategy, nil capital gains, world-class telecommunications infrastructure and regulatory framework, will continue to be a leading jurisdiction for supporting the industry and its operators" Mummery said.