Weekly Nambling Notes - July 8-12, 2002

Tidbits from the US -- eBay Inc., the person-to-person auction site, is buying PayPal Inc., the recently floated third-party online payment service. The acquisition is subject to approval by stockholders and the government and will close around the end of the year. The integration of PayPal's service into eBay's service is expected to greatly ease peoples' ability to buy and sell on the auction site. The purchase of PayPal is expected to cost eBay $1.5 billion. Meg Whitman, president and CEO of eBay, said the two companies have "complementary missions." "Together we can improve the user experience and make online trading more compelling," she said. "We can also capture greater value from the e-commerce opportunities occurring both on and off our site." After the acquisition is complete, the PayPal will cease offering payment services for online gaming transactions.

Makin' Deals -- Online Gaming Systems Inc. will develop an Internet casino for an as-yet-unnamed Australian land-based gaming operator. The Las Vegas-based turnkey provider said it could not release the name of the Australian company until it obtains regulatory approvals in Australia. ... Grand Virtual is teaming with Gaming Insight. Grand Virtual and Gaming Insight will be providing a gaming platform to a number of Gaming Insight's clients, including Harrods Casino Online, the I-gaming venture of Harrods department store in London. David Sanderson, Gaming Insight's CEO, said his company chose Grand Virtual because it offers security and trustworthiness. "All of the company's technology components are purpose-built for online gaming," he said. "They include comprehensive jurisdiction control seamlessly integrated into a powerful, efficient, effective platform that provides maximum entertainment for players and peak performance for online gaming operators." ... Pacific Nakon and eConnect are working together to launch the eCashPad, which can be used in conjunction with the ICasino Pay software to allow online gamblers to pay for their betting activities via e-cash from their home PCs. According to a release issued by both companies, 1,000 eCashPads will be shipped to major cities and consumers will be able to purchase prepaid cards that can be used to pay for e-commerce transactions with e-cash.

Tidbit from Canada -- SureFire Commerce Inc. said Thursday that it is outsourcing certain payment processing functions with a European company beginning in the third quarter of this year. In a news release, SureFire said the move is aimed at cutting costs and improving efficiency. SureFire did not name the European company.

Tidbits from the UK -- William Hill and Ladbrokes have scrapped a 40-year agreement with football authorities that restricted betting and will now accept single bets on all Premiership and Nationwide league matches. The move spells the end for the "minimum trebles" rule, which forced punters to bet on three matches at once. ... Two more parts of Sports.com have been parceled out and sold. While ukbetting bought the company's sports betting arm, SCG Enterprises Ltd. , recently, Sportingbet plc on Thursday announced that it has acquired the Sports.com domain. Sports.com entered administration in May. Nigel Payne, Sportingbet's group chief executive, said the Sports.com domain name will help globalize his company's business. "Sports.com presents a tremendous opportunity for Sportingbet plc to provide sports betting and gaming services to what is undoubtedly one of the leading domain names on the Internet," he said. The Sports.com site will be redesigned and re-launched within the next new weeks using Sportingbet's technology. In addition, Footymad has signed a five-figure agreement to purchase Sports.com's content and syndication arm. ... Global Crossing Ltd. 's contract with Camelot Group plc to operate the company's network for the National Lottery has been renewed for seven years.

Names and Faces -- Multimedia Games Inc. recently appointed Robert D. Repass to its board of directors. Repass is a former managing partner in the Austin, Texas, office of PriceWaterhouseCoopers. ... Robert Olsen is the most recent appointee to dot com Entertainment Group Inc. 's board of directors. Olsen is co-president of financial management and corporate development company CCFL Mezzanine Partners.

New Stuff -- BMM International, the independent testing agency, is making available modular Internet technical standards for gaming regulators to customize their jurisdictional needs. Suppliers and operators will be able to design, implement and internally test their Internet gaming, wagering and sports betting systems with a high level of confidence of achieving formal certification to these technical requirements. The first jurisdiction to adopt these new technical standards will be the Mohawk Kahnawake territory near Montreal. ... OddsON launched Vegas Players Casino on Monday. The site, which is being billed as "the online real Las Vegas experience" on the Web, offers a variety of games including progressive Caribbean stud poker and two progressive slot machines, as well as blackjack, roulette, craps and keno. ... Rimpac Resources Ltd. , a Nevada corporation, announced that it is launching a Vietnamese version of its corporate Web site to introduce its Internet lottery products and services to the country. According to the World Lottery Almanac, Vietnamese people bought about US$1 billion in lottery tickets in 2001. ... GoldenPalace.com, the company responsible for all the body billboard tattoos appearing on the backs of high-profile boxers in the past year, is recognizing the importance of the Retired Boxers Foundation. The casino giant is bankrolling the RBF's "Fighters Helping Fighters" campaign by donating 2.5 percent of all upcoming fighters' sponsorship (back tattoo) fees. ... Sky interactive TV is launching the Winzone interactive gaming and betting service. Winzone is meant to take the place of Sky's World Cup 2002 service that offered a centralized area for all of its tournament information. Surrey Sports, Ladbrokes and Blue Square are said to be partners with Sky in offering Winzone.