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Packer betting shut down by:Staff Friday, May 09, 2003 THE federal Government will sink Kerry Packer's bid to allow punters to make live bets over the television and has shut down its failed offshore internet casino venture. In a move certain to enrage the nation's richest man, Communications Minister Richard Alston indicated he would not grant a request by Mr Packer's listed company to lift the ban on betting on sports events already in progress, because it would increase gambling addiction. "At the time the legislation went through, there was some research which indicated it was related to problem gambling," a spokesman for Senator Alston said last night. "We will probably not be looking at reform in that area. But it is one of the issues that is being considered and all submissions will be considered on their merits, including Mr Packer's." The Australian understands that a federal Government review of the internet gambling laws will not lift the restrictions on so-called "in the run" betting, which allows punters to place live bets on questions such as who would score the next goal in a football match. But PBL believes the success of digital television depends on viewers being allowed to interact and gamble on sporting events whenever they choose. In a blunt submission last month to the review of internet gambling, PBL argued that laws had to be changed for digital television to catch on. "It is PBL's view that the restrictions contained in the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 have the potential to limit the ability of Australian television companies to offer attractive interactive services to viewers through digital television," the submission said. In a separate move yesterday, the Packer family's listed company Publishing & Broadcasting shut down its online casino business, Crown Games. Set up in Vanuatu in January 2002 after legislation ruled out a domestic presence or taking bets from Australians, Crown Games has lost about $20 million, including a $12 million software writedown reported by PBL in its December half-year result. The decision to shut it down came hours after Senator Alston told an industry conference in Canberra that commercial networks were to blame for the failure of digital television. "They were telling us more than six months ago that they were about to launch a significant community campaign through the existing analogue networks and to date we haven't seen too many signs of that," Senator Alston said. |
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