A Look Back at 2007

January

January 2 - PartyGaming buys Empire Online's assets.

January 3 - Italy awards interactive gambling licenses.

January 11 - Pinnacle withdraws from the U.S. market.

January 16 - Neteller founders are charged with money laundering in United States.

January 23 - Payment processors abandon U.S. customers.

January 30 - The Israeli high court rules against foreign gaming sites.

February

February 1 - Mark Blandford resigns from Sportingbet.

February 7 - The FBI freezes Neteller funds.

February 13 - RTL is ordered to stop advertising sports betting in Germany.

February 16 - Former Senator D'Amato joins the Poker Players Alliance as chairman.

February 20 - The Antiguan Financial Services Regulatory Commission is tasked with supervising BetonSports' payment distribution to customers.

February 22 - Gaming operators are barred from sponsorships and ads at 2007 World Series of Poker.

February 26 - China cracks down on gambling.

February 27 - Macau prepares to regulate I-gaming.

March

March 1 - A U.K. Gambling Commission survey reveals surprising statistics.

March 2 - Turkey outlaws online games; bwin pulls out of the market.

March 6 - The ECJ settles the Placanica case; independent operators rejoice.

March 9 - Alberta orders the Alexander First Nation to cease its I-gaming licensing and hosting plans.

March 13 - The United Kingdom reveals new gambling advertising codes.

March 20 - France rules that Partouche's online gambling service is illegal.

March 21 - Sportingbet and the state of Louisiana reach an amicable resolution to the Peter Dicks saga.

March 21 - The European Commission puts Denmark, Finland and Hungary on notice.

March 28 - Payment processor ECHO avoids prosecution by settling with the U.S. DoJ.

March 30 - Fugitive Gary Kaplan, a founder of BetsonSports, is apprehended in Dominican Republic.

March 30 - The WTO declares that the United States has failed to comply with 2005 the dispute settlement ruling regarding Antigua's complaint.

April

April 17 - Greece arrests nine for using foreign betting sites.

April 18 - China detains two Betex executives.

April 23 - Ladbrokes and 888 fail to reach a merger deal after months of negotiation.

April 26 - U.S. Rep. Barney Frank proposes a federal I-gaming regulation bill.

May

May 2 - The American Gaming Association supports Rep. Frank's legislation . . . with caution.

May 2 - Papua New Guinea legislation permits casinos and I-gaming.

May 2 - All major U.S. sports leagues oppose Rep. Frank's regulatory bill.

May 4 - Rep. Berkley of Nevada proposes the Internet Gambling Study bill.

May 14 - Canadian payment processor Optimal Group cooperates with the U.S. DoJ.

May 16 - The European Commission gets involved in the Unibet cycling fiasco.

May 24 - BetonSports pleads guilty to racketeering.

May 25 - Travel concerns prompt Betex executives to resign.

June

June 5 - iMEGA challenges the legality of the U.S. I-gaming prohibition.

June 7 - U.S. Rep. Wexler offers legislation exempting poker, mahjong and other skill games from the UIGEA.

June 9 - Rep. McDermott proposes a tax code for the U.S. regulatory model.

June 19 - bwin's sponsorship of Real Madrid faces scrutiny.

June 19 - The European Union takes an active role in the United States/Antigua WTO dispute.

June 26 - A Tel Aviv District Court upholds a ruling against foreign I-gaming providers.

June 26 - The European Commission declines to legislate harmony across European Union.

June 27 - The EC says sports betting restrictions in France and Sweden remain non-compliant with EU law.

June 28 - The Spanish senate approves an I-gaming regulatory bill.

June 29 - Finland reviews its gambling laws and their compliance with EU rules.

July

July 2 - Neteller founder Stephen Lawrence pleads guilty in United States.

July 5 - A new law in Mexico permits online gambling.

July 10 - Washington state shuts down P2P betting site Betcha.com.

July 10 - The Unibet cycling team is denied entry to the Tour de France.

July 10 - Neteller founder John Lefebvre pleads guilty.

July 10 - Several I-gaming sites are named in connection with a 2005 U.K. terror plot.

July 16 - The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve miss their deadline for UIGEA banking regulations.

July 18 - Neteller agrees to a $136 million settlement with the United States.

July 25 - Neteller releases a trading update and resumes trading on the London Alternative Investment Market.

July 26 - Second Life prohibits gambling.

July 30 - Neteller Initiates its customer payback program.

July 31 - The U.K. Gambling Commission reports trends related to adult online gambling participation.

August

August 2 - Fun Technologies and King.com form the Interactive Skill Games Association.

August 6 - Christchurch Casino is ordered to shut down its Internet wagering service.

August 9 - The British DCMS lists 1,000 gambling sites that may not advertise in United Kingdom.

August 13 - Several companies plan to move to "white-listed" jurisdictions to advertise in the United Kingdom.

August 15 - Unibet ends its cycling sponsorship.

August 16 - Curacao says its new legislation should give it white-list status in United Kingdom.

August 20 - China busts an online soccer betting ring that reaped $13 million during World Cup 2006.

August 28 - The Hong Kong Jockey Club permits customers based in the United States to wager on its events.

August 30 - Bodog loses its domain names in a patent infringement case and moves to Newbodog.com.

September

September 12 - South Africa's parliament approves an I-gaming regulatory bill.

September 18 - A public opinion poll shows that Israelis are opposed to legalized gambling.

September 24 - The Czech finance ministry mulls Net betting prohibition.

September 24 - bwin execs talk with India about legalizing sports betting in the country.

October

October 1 - The U.S. government unveils its proposal for UIGEA banking regulations.

October 18 - Betex de-lists from Alternative Investment Market; senior executives with the company remain detained in China.

October 18 - Doylesroom.com resumes U.S. operations.

October 22 - A "trusted consultant" is blamed in an AbsolutePoker cheating scandal.

October 23 - Unibet CEO Petter Nylander is detained on a French warrant.

October 29 - Massachusetts' governor proposes an Internet gambling ban.

November

November 2 - Internet horserace wagering gets underway in New York.

November 6 - Italy approves a skill games law.

November 19 - Norway proposes an online gambling payments ban.

November 19 - The United States is losing billions of dollars in potential I-gaming revenue.

November 27 - Brazil considers an online sports betting ban.

November 30 - The Bahamas reviews its gambling policies.

December

December 3 - NY-based OTB launches an Internet wagering service.

December 4 - U.S. Rep. Goodlatte asks the FTC to investigate online gambling advertisements in the United States.

December 7 - Celebrated jockey Kieren Fallon is acquitted of race fixing charges.

December 18 - The European Union and United States reach a WTO settlement agreement.

December 19 - Microsoft, Yahoo and Google reach a $31.5 million settlement with the U.S. DoJ in an illegal advertising case.

December 21 - A Final WTO ruling awards Antigua a potential $21.1 million per year until the United States complies.