In 2008, Committee Chairman Barney Frank attempted to halt the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and this latest decision delineates the changing opinions of the Democratic Congress.

 The first attempt to halt the implementation of the UIGEA failed based on a 32-32 vote and did not pass the Committee. A second bill, which pertained exclusively to sports betting, was passed by the Committee based on a 30-19 vote. However, this decision was not voted on by the full House of Representatives.

 Two years later in 2010, Frank’s Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act (HR 2267) resulted in the majority of Republicans voting against the bill. The vote was 18 against the bill with only 7 supporting the bill. Whilst, 34 Democrats voted for the bill and 4 voted against it. Republican, Ron Paul voted present and 7 members of the committee did cast their vote on the matter.

 The implication is that if the bill is passed by the House, it will then be taken up at Senate level and will require the presidential signature. This decision needs to be made before the end of the legislative session which ends in December. If this decision is not made within the specified time parameters the process will have to start again the following year. By that time, the House and Senate will comprise of different members implying that the decision making process will thus be further extended.

Fortune Affiliates will be in breathtaking Niagara Falls in Canada for the 2nd CBG Affiliate Conference from August 27 – 30, 2010

After attending the event last year, I have to say , that all Affiliates can definitely bookmark this conference as a “ Must attend “.

With amazing Hosts like Judy and Dean Button from Casino Bonus Guy, all affiliates attending will be treated like Royalty.

The event this year guarantees to be even bigger and better than last year with 7 Affiliate programs attending.

Come and enjoy all the great sights that this wonderful venue has to offer.

Niagara Falls is the oldest tourist attraction in America, with ferry rides right up to the waterfalls, the World Famous ‘Ripley’s Believe It or Not’ and ‘Guinness World Records’ museums, I can guarantee that there will never be a dull moment.

For some late night entertainment you can dance the night away in the Dragonfly Night Club , or you can go and try your luck at the Black Jack Tables in the Casino

Lastly, this conference is not just about having a Good time, but also about bringing some of the best people in the industry together to discuss a variety of matters affecting the Affiliate Industry today.

From my personal experience, this conference will definitely be a great Value add for all affiliates, whether you’re a seasoned campaigner or simply in the start up faze

•  In 1994, the first major online gambling jurisdiction was born in the twin island state of Antigua and Barbuda
• Gambling regulatory body, The Free Trade and Processing Zone, permits the issuance of gambling licenses to Operators wanting to open online casinos
• Under the FTPZ Act, the Directorate of Offshore Gaming was created for the purpose of receiving, processing, approving, and issuing gambling licenses
• Also in 1994, software provider Microgaming was founded, providing the means to make available casino games for online enjoyment
• Then in 1995 Cryptologic was born, bringing about the finishing touches to a comprehensive online casino via financial processing – the first component to be developed was eCash
• Cryptologic combined the online casino aspect and the financial processing portion and created InterCasino – the first known full-fledged online casino
• The online gambling industry grew rapidly with an influx of online casinos especially as more and more gambling jurisdictions emerged
• Over 2,000 online gambling sites comprising of largely casino, poker and sports betting operations exist to this day
• The combined revenue of this online industry now exceeds $15 Billion dollars

So the question I’m thinking about now is what next and when. Will this industry still exist in 20 years (as we know it) or is there something bigger and better coming?

All tagged traffic sent to Platinum Play Bingo is now recorded and redirected to the new Giggle Bingo site, so Affiliates will still be credited for all players sent to either Platinum Play Bingo or Giggle Bingo.

Why the change?

Giggle Bingo’s thriving, secure bingo community is already making big waves in the bingo world.

Giggle Bingo has sky-rocketed in popularity since its successful launch on 14 September 2009 and has completely over-shadowed Platinum Play Bingo. The decision was therefore made to focus all our affiliate efforts on Giggle Bingo which we believe from early indicators will be a winning Bingo site for our partners.

As before, Giggle Bingo features all the same bingo rooms you would find on Platinum Play Bingo, including 90 Ball and 75 Ball Bingo PLUS the one of a kind Bingo Ball for Life promotion.

How does this effect me?

Affiliates who are still pushing Platinum Play Bingo should rather focus on Giggle Bingo as the brand response and the higher conversion rates is providing much higher revenues for any given amount of exposure given.

There are a range of banner options available for Giggle Bingo on the affiliate system.

Please contact your relationship manager if you need any assistance.

What’s news on Giggle Bingo?

Giggle Bingo recently launched a UK (http://www.gigglebingo.co.uk) and a Canadian (http://www.gigglebingo.ca) site to cater for the specific needs of these markets.

The Giggle Bingo site also recently received second place in the coveted WhichBingo.co.uk New Site of the Year award category.

Don’t miss the bingo craze – Giggle Bingo is riding high into 2010.

Somewhere in all the mad winter rush we added a nice new feature to our casinos download process. Partners are now able to customise the name of the casino executable directly from their websites.

For the most part this does not effect any the normal traffic into our main brand sites, however for those guys and gals that like to link directly to our downloads and want a little more customisation.

Here’s how you do it!

The standard URL variables for a direct download

http://www.7sultans.eu/btag-yourtag/download.casino

When the download launches, it looks something like this.

This directly launches the download wraps the banner tag “btag-yourtag” into the software.

Visually : The standard executable for 7Sultans reads “7Sultans.exe” to the user.

The custom variable coder

An additional variable can now be added to the direct download that now re-names the exe while wrapping the partner tag on the fly.
The variable is called ‘filedisplayname’ and you can use any name to rename any EXE.

Here’s an example where we used “MySlotsSite” as the customised variable.

http://www.7sultans.eu/btag-yourtag/download.casino?filedisplayname=MySlotsSite.

Custom executable usage on your site!

How can a custom named .exe help me?
There are a number of circumstances where a custom named executable is handy to have, other times it’s a nice to have option for perfectionists.

• Co-branding | It looks like a casino, feels like a casino but is Your Own Casino
• Promotions | Any promotion you can dream up “Ipad casino download“
• Content Relevance | Download Hellboy Slot Game Now!

Possibilities are endless, boundless, great!

.

Fortune Affiliates has proudly unveiled its new website. The site (http://www.fortuneaffiliates.eu/) has received an extreme makeover with an updated, modern design and layout, as well as brand new functionality and features.

Great new look for Fortune Affiliates site

In keeping with modern trends in website design, the new Fortune Affiliates site is more visually appealing and user-friendly with an improved design based on best practices in usability. Navigation is easier with large, bold links and buttons to guide visitors around the site.

Streamlined registration process

Signing up as a Fortune Affiliate has never been easier with a shorter registration process that has been reduced to a single page form.

On-demand Web Analytics

Webstats are now merely a click away – the new Web Analytics feature accessible from the left side bar allows you to view real time data for the past 12 hours of the Unique Visitors, Downloads and Registrations you have generated. The other stats reports are, of course, still available for more in depth analysis of your results.

Fortune Affiliates: French

The site is now available in the French language – change your language by visiting the home page and clicking on the links at the very top of the page.

Your feedback

We’d love to get your feedback about the new Fortune Affiliates site – please send your comments to your Fortune Affiliates relationship manager or email support@fortuneaffiliates.eu.

It seems that online casino operators hoping for a quick return to the US market will need to wait a little longer – Rep. Barney Frank, the chief proponent of legislation to legalize and regulate online gambling, is also the head of the US House Financial Services Committee. It seems that in the current climate of global economic woe his attention is focused on economic matters and the debate around online gambling legislation is set to resume only in September 2009. This is a blow for those online casino operators who were hoping for resolution.

Rep. Frank’s support for his online gambling legislation has grown recently, from both sides of the political spectrum. Lawmakers seem to be more understanding of the public’s desire to have the right to gamble online.

As for the outcome of the legislative process, only time will tell.

Source: Google News