How Big is Internet Gambling ?

According to estimates by The River City Group, Inc., a Missouri-based firm, there were now over 1400 gambling sites. Christiansen Capital Advisors estimates that Internet gambling expenditures for the year 2001 will eclipse the $3 billion mark. This number is expected to rise to $4.5 billion in 2002 and then $6.3 billion in 2003.

The Interactive Gaming Council (the "IGC") comprises of over 100 companies from around the globe that are involved with the interactive gaming industry. Each operating members of the IGC is required to be licensed to lawfully conduct interactive gaming from the jurisdiction within which it operates, and to abide by the IGC's Code of Conduct, a copy of which can be found at the IGC web site (www.igccouncil.org). An important role of the Interactive Gaming Council is to advocate for the adoption of strong government regulation of the Internet gaming industry throughout the world.

As the IGC has evolved, the association has recognized the need to provide industry members with an accreditation that the public will recognize and trust. The Seal of Approval program (the "SOA") allows operators to display new, higher level of compliance as a supplement to existing government regulatory regimes. The seal is an actual logo that is placed on interactive gambling site to symbolize a willingness of the operator to adhere to a higher level of integrity and responsibility. The Seal of Approval logo is currently served from a third party server in order to protect, to the best of IGC's technical abilities, its authenticity and to allow for instantaneous removal of the seal should the IGC revoke its approval.

The first company to participate in the program and display the SOA logo was the Sunny Group of Casinos (www.sunnycasinos.com), operator of casinofortune.com, mapau.com, miamibeachcasino.com. The other two companies to participate are VIPsports.com, operator of VIPsports.com, VIPsoccer.com, and VIPcasinos.com, and more recently Bet and Chat, operator of betandchat.com.

The IGC believes that the SOA is an important step towards increasing the legitimacy of the Internet gaming industry. The program allows players to have some reassurance that Internet gaming sites that display the SOA logo have agreed to higher standards, a strong code of Conduct and random monitoring by a third party industry association. The Seal of Approval program also provides an important mechanism for dissatisfied players in the form of a more "formalized" dispute resolution procedure. The SOA establishes a system where a designated Compliance Officer can intervene and mediate at a resolution when there is evidence that any attempted resolution, between a Seal of Approval member site and the consumer, has not been effective.

The SOA is by no means designed to be a replacement for strict government regulation. In fact, it is the IGC's contention that effective government licensing and regulation is the only way to move the Internet gaming industry, as a subset of eCommerce in general, to the next level of legitimacy.

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Note to editors

The IGC was created in November 1996 as an affiliate of the Washington DC based Interactive Services Association. It is now headquartered in Vancouver, being incorporated in Canada in March 2000.

The council is the leading trade association for the international interactive gaming industry, with its membership operating or supplying services to, most of the reputable gaming and wagering sites on the World Wide Web. Additional information about the IGC, including membership details, can be found at the association's web site, www.igcouncil.org.

Rick Smith is the Executive Director of the Interactive Gaming Council. He is a former regulator with the Queensland Office of Gaming Regulation in Australia and a former New Zealand gaming regulator.

Keith Furlong serves as the Deputy Executive Director of the IGC, and is the Vice-President of the Catania Consulting Group, Inc., a New Jersey-based gaming consultancy and lobbying firm. He is a former Public Information Officer and Legislative Liaison with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.