Publication date: 03 Feb 2021

Selling on-line casino apps: Google eases up on regular practice

Google eased up on their policy towards smart-phone gambling. Now, in the list of tolerant markets are the USA, Canada, Australia, Columbia, Mexico, New Zealand, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Romania. It all starts in March, 2021 to give access to the users. Money-line virtual casino games were earlier a privilege for Brazil, Ireland, France and Great Britain only, being offered by licensed providers. As soon as the amended rules come into practice, the developers will be able to market their on-line casino applications, lotteries, sports bets, and daily fantasy-sports lawfully. The jurisdiction will discriminate the criteria selection while moderating. Google experts assure that mitigated policy will reduce illegal internet gambling. Developers will benefit from new legal traffic, whereas consumers from good and safe content.

Apple in Court for the on-line casino promotion

Just as 2021 starts, Apple faces a lawsuit being suspected of illegal enrichment at the expense of on-line gambling applications. In the District Court for the Northern District of California (USA) the claim was accepted. The claimants are former gamblers Donald Nelson and Cheree Bibbs, who lost more than $15,000 using the platforms. According to the statement, Apple is accused of cooperation with some shadow providers, displaying their applications in the App Store, such as shareware social casinos with their in-app purchase system. The in-app purchase system suggests buying in-game currency for real money. The claimants compare this method with the casino-type gaming, which often causes game-addiction. The distinctive feature is that there is no possibility to exchange in-game points for real money unlike foreign casino sites for mutual interest of the operator and the provider, who share this money. So, the main requirement is that Apple should reduce in-game purchases by 30% in all applications in the App Store. Also the plaintiffs demand compensation, as over $6 bn was spent on internet-casino chips last year. The case was called a precedent in Court. As a result it is going to be proceeded as a special category one.