January 2010 eCOGRA NEWS

eCOGRA News Articles Table of Content for January 2010

ECOGRA RELEASES 2009 ONLINE GAMBLING DISPUTE STATS: Players benefit from mediation service for approved sites
PARTYGAMING SCORES ECOGRA AFFILIATE TRUST SEAL: Major online gambling group's affiliate program recognised for best practice standards of fairness and efficiency
ECOGRA APPOINTED TO TEST COMPLIANCE OF KAHNAWAKE GAMING COMMISSION LICENSEES: Up to 55 operators commit to high standards of fairness and player protection

ECOGRA RELEASES 2009 ONLINE GAMBLING DISPUTE STATS

Players benefit from mediation service for approved sites

Press Release

London, 14 January 2010 - Tex Rees, the Fair Gaming Advocate at the player protection and standards non-profit eCOGRA has released consolidated player dispute statistics for January 1st to December 31st 2009, showing that almost 50 percent of the disputes she mediated were resolved in favour of the player and highlighting the benefits of playing at eCOGRA’s approved sites.

Rees publishes quarterly reports on her activities, which cover the 141 online gambling websites accredited and monitored by the independent London-based organisation.

The annual overview shows that Rees received a total of 826 disputes through eCOGRA's online player facility, an increase of 83 or around 10 percent over FY 2008. However, 83 of those submitted were in respect of none-eCOGRA operators, over which the organisation has no influence.

A further 115 submissions were classified as invalid due to being anonymous, non-specific and/or abusive in nature - slightly up on the same category for 2008 when there 96 such submissions.

Rees mediated the remaining 628 issues, securing resolutions that favoured the player in 303 - or 48 percent - of the cases.

"The average number of valid disputes handled per week was 12.07, slightly up on the 2008 number of 10.6," Rees said this week.

"Taken over a total of 141 "Safe and Fair" seal websites, that amounts to an average of 0.37 issues per site per month, a minute increase over the 2008 number of 0.36. That remains an industry-leading disputes statistic by any standards," the Fair Gaming Advocate added.

The main causes for disputes were:

Cash Ins: 46 percent
Bonus: 22 percent
Locked account: 19 percent
Other*: 13 percent

* Issues regarding responsible gambling, queries on sportsbetting, software enquiries and spam.

"The hierarchy of disputes remains the same as it was in 2008, although the percentages differ slightly," Rees said. "Once again I found operators quick to respond and fully cooperative in addressing the mediated disputes."

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PARTYGAMING SCORES ECOGRA AFFILIATE TRUST SEAL

Major online gambling group's affiliate program recognised for best practice standards of fairness and efficiency

Press Release

London, 20 January 2010 - PartyPartners.com, the affiliate program for several leading online gambling brands in the PartyGaming plc group, has successfully passed the on-site inspection and monitoring requirements of player protection and standards body eCOGRA.

The program is now entitled to display the eCOGRA Affiliate Trust Seal, which certifies that it observes best practice operational standards of fairness and efficiency in dealing with affiliate marketers, and is independently reviewed on a regular basis.

eCOGRA chief executive Andrew Beveridge said that the Affiliate Trust seal is awarded contingent on the applicant company meeting clearly defined international standards and undergoing a comprehensive on-site inspection and audit of its business systems by a professionally qualified eCOGRA compliance team.

"Among the criteria for accreditation, applicant programs must show that affiliate revenue is calculated fairly and accurately, that payments are prompt, and that there are appropriate controls in place to accurately link players to affiliates," he said. "Achieving accreditation such as PartyPartners has done requires professional commitment and impeccable administrative and business systems."

eCOGRA compliance team leader Sean Roberts, a fully qualified Chartered Accountant who managed the audit at PartyPartners, said that it had been a significant project in his experience.

"This is a major and respected tier one international gambling group with top online casino, poker, bingo and sportsbetting brands, all using the PartyPartners affiliate program to manage relationships with thousands of affiliates around the world," he said.

"We were impressed by the competency of both staff and systems, which we thoroughly tested at full capacity to determine efficiency and consistency levels. In my opinion it is among the most professionally managed businesses I have encountered in hundreds of eCOGRA reviews and audits at major Internet companies."

Jim Ryan, chief executive officer at PartyGaming said he was pleased but not surprised that PartyPartners had done so well in the accreditation process

"We have a really good management team in place there, which recognises the importance of our affiliates and their contribution to our success," he said. "The achievement of this industry-respected accreditation is an affirmation of our full commitment to operational efficiency and integrity in this critical area of our business.

"The eCOGRA certification is achieved through practical and professional testing and inspection, and I am pleased that we have achieved the high standards required," he added. "It reinforces our market positioning as a serious affiliate program giving affiliates significant revenue opportunities through a trusted system with outstanding brands.

"It’s important to have this externally audited."

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ECOGRA APPOINTED TO TEST COMPLIANCE OF KAHNAWAKE GAMING COMMISSION LICENSEES

Up to 55 operators commit to high standards of fairness and player protection

Press Release

London, 25 January 2010 - In a drive to help its licensees meet high international standards of fairness, player protection, operational conduct and responsible gambling, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission ("KGC") today launched a new compliance program that will involve the third party inspection and ongoing monitoring of up to fifty-five online gambling operators licensed by the Mohawk jurisdiction located near Montreal, Canada.

KGC chairman Dean Montour said that he was pleased that licensees, many of them major companies in the online gambling industry, had shown a strong commitment to a compliance system that met or exceeded international best practice standards.

"Our first step in implementing the new scheme, which we have titled the Continuous Compliance Program, has been the appointment of eCOGRA as an Approved Agent in terms of section 140 of our Regulations to assist in the application of the program, and submit reports of its findings to the Commission," Mr. Montour revealed.

"The KGC has a long-standing working relationship with eCOGRA and is confident in eCOGRA’s ability to effectively implement the Continuous Compliance Program while ensuring that all information received from operators is held in the strictest confidence.

"eCOGRA is a non-profit standards and player protection company that has a substantial staff of professionally qualified and industry-experienced Chartered Accountants who have completed hundreds of compliance inspections over the past six years," Mr. Montour continued. "The company, which is itself reviewed annually by KPMG, has the resources to assess compliance and conduct monitoring programs to ensure game fairness and adherence to key KGC objectives, and is eminently suited to the task.

"In 2007 eCOGRA was appointed by the European Gaming and Betting Association, a highly respected representative of the leading European gaming and betting operators, to implement a similar continuous compliance program for all its members. This program, involving some of the largest companies in the business, has proved very successful and is now in its third compliance cycle," Mr. Montour said, adding that this has enabled EGBA members to confidently demonstrate that they operate at standards that match or exceed those of European Union state gambling monopolies.

The Kahnawake Continuous Compliance Program includes all authorised games and has three elements:

Annual assessment of licensees for full compliance with KGC regulations concerning anti-money laundering, player protection, complaints and dispute resolution, prizes, responsible gambling, records and reports and advertising.
Annual assessment for compliance with key regulatory objectives.
Ongoing analysis of the live gaming data to ensure authorised games are random and fair, and return to player ratios are correctly assessed and maintained through a continuous monitoring program of operational data.

eCOGRA Chief Executive Andrew Beveridge said the compliance activities of the company fell directly under the authority of the 4 Independent Directors on the Board, all of whom were highly experienced in the industry.

"The KGC and its licensees have demonstrated a great determination to achieve best practice standards, and we respect the commitment that has so far been shown," he said.

"Our extensive work with our own eCOGRA-accredited operators and those of EGBA has repeatedly illustrated that the right standards, professionally and diligently applied and maintained by an independent third party, produce outstanding results that enhance the reputation and productivity of participating companies.

"We look forward to the considerable task ahead and have almost completed 4 initial test reviews that have generated enthusiastic feedback from the operators concerned. The most important aspect of this program is that players will be safer, and that can only be to the credit of the industry."

About Kahnawake:
The Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake is a sovereign jurisdiction located just outside Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission was established in 1996 and has been continuously licensing and regulating online gaming since July, 1999 – longer than almost any other jurisdiction in the world.

Operators that are licensed by the Commission host their equipment at Mohawk Internet Technologies, a world class ISP and data centre located within the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake: http://www.mohawk.ca/

The Commission’s Regulations concerning Interactive Gaming were developed in consultation with Frank Catania, a renowned expert in the regulation of online and terrestrial gaming. The Commission is comprised of three members appointed by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and, in addition to its roster of full-time employees, fulfills its mandate with the assistance of a number of Approved Agents, including eCOGRA.

For more information about the Commission go to: http://www.gamingcommission.ca/

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