It's being called the biggest Internet gambling event of its kind.  Barcelona is once again host to the European i-Gaming Congress and Expo, featuring some of the sharpest minds in the online gambling space, not to mention a few loose screws.  While most of the focus will be on i-Gaming success throughout Europe and entry into the Asian market, the situation within the United States is not far from everyone's mind. 

At one point, the US market encompassed 80% of all business for online gaming firms like PartyGaming, which have already demonstrated that they can survive outside the United States and still maintain their status as the number two largest Internet poker room (after PokerStars). 

The US government made sure to put a damper on EIG by announcing that the The US Treasury and Federal Reserve are now taking final steps to ensure that Internet Gambling is banned once and for all.

The two agencies, working in conjunction with the US Department of Justice, have begun a process that will implement the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that was passed by Congress last year.

Many banks and credit card companies have not taken any action to stop making payments to illegal sites, awaiting the rules to determine what procedures they need to have in place.

Yesterday's announcement details those rules, calling on all banks, credit card companies and automated payment system companies to have "policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to prevent payments being made to gambling businesses."

The Fed and the Treasury have kick-started a three-month consultation process on these proposed rules, with comments from affected parties to be filed by December 12.

Sources within Gambling911.com suggest that the banking institutions are somewhat supportive of efforts being made by the i-Gaming industry to overturn the UIGEA, though the extent of this support is not immediately known.  The smaller banking community was especially vocal in its opposition to the passage of this new law, however, there has been a merging of the banking sector over this past year.  That doesn't mean there is still not plenty of opposition.

iMEGA, an independent trade organization designed to fight oppressive forces interfering with online privacy, have focused their initial efforts on Internet gambling.  This summer, iMEGA filed a complaint against the US government seeking a temporary restraining order to the policy enforcement of UIGEA.  A hearing in this matter took place last Wednesday.  A judge will be rendering her decision within 30 days.  It is not known what impact, if any, the US government announcement will have on her ruling. 

In the past many banks have turned a blind eye to individual state laws banning gambling.

However, the industry has witnessed increased turmoil over the past year and a half, following a series of high-profile prosecutions of senior such as BetonSports chief executive David Carruthers and Neteller's Stephen Lawrence.

Neteller CEO Ron Martin will be on hand discussing his company's new vision during a 9 am EST session. 

He is one of four Internet gambling executives who will be sharing their thoughts regarding  key issues that are affecting the industry, including: • Lessons learnt regarding events over the last year • The biggest challenges they¡¦ll think they¡¦ll face over the next 12 months • The main drivers in the industry over the next year • Important jurisdictions for growth over the next few years.

One of those *important* jurisdictions is of course Asia.  Jason Chan, the CEO of EntertAsia, the premier developer of an Asian-centric suite of online gambling products, will be on hand at the Barcelona event. 

Mr. Chan has already detailed some of the most important obstacles that have gotten in the way of entering the lucrative Asian market.  He spoke to our Kira Wissman last month.

"With no doubt to me, there are combinations of many issues.  Let me just pin point a few major ones to share my view:

"1) Cultural Difference ¡V Asian players demand more customer attention and more efficient gaming process. Most of the existing online gaming players were traditional land based casino players. They are not very sophisticated and not familiar with either working or playing on computers. They need lots of support to get familiar with online playing environment. What I mean by ¡§efficient gaming process¡¨ is that most of the Asian players take gaming more as gambling. They want quick and direct result from every game which makes ¡§Baccarat¡¨ always the most popular casino game in Asia.

"2) Software and Technology ¡V It is a very important of the business. Lots of games and playing behaviors are very different in Asia compare to the rest of the world. In general, Asian players take gaming very seriously and they expect the websites or the software to be presented very seriously as well. The requirement of the software goes beyond just the game itself. They expect to have all the land based playing experience integrated to the software.

"3) Localization (not translation) ¡V Most of the operators who failed in the Asian markets usually made 2 obvious mistakes. Mistake #1, they started to advertise or promote their websites as soon as the websites are translated to the local languages with no customization. For example, how can operations expect to get business from offering American Football or slot machine games only? Mistake #2, they don¡¦t even equip with local payment mechanisms on both fund-in and fund-out."

iMEGA President, Edward Leyden, speaks at 3:45 EST on the current legal environment within the US and it will be quite interesting to get his take on yesterday's announcement.

Gambling911.com will be part of a closing panel at 4:30 pm EST discussing media's role in online gambling. 

Following EIG is CAP Euro, the popular ever-evolving Internet gambling affiliate networking event that promises also to be the best ever.

"The turnout for CAP Euro is going to be exceptional," commented Ian Larcombe of iGaming Business, a firm that works in conjunction with other partner groups to make CAP Euro a reality.  That event runs from the 4th thru 7th. 

Unlike this past Spring's CAP Bahamas, which offered an almost exclusive party atmosphere minus any type of conference program setting, CAP Euro focuses heavily on industry discussion sessions.

Lou Fabiano of Casino Affiliate Programs will deliver the opening day speech with Gambling911.com's transgender reporter Sparky Collins by his side, outlining the future of online gambling affiliate activity throughout the world, including the US.  Doyle Brunson, whose DoylesRoom Poker site has become a complete disaster thanks to an arrangement with a European software firm that pulled out of the US market earlier this year, will be the key note speaker.  Brunson is a legend in the world of poker.  Few have been hit harder by US online poker restrictions than Mr. Brunson. 

Larcombe, meanwhile, has a long week ahead of him.  CAP will be capped off with a major networking event on Sunday with a promised all afternoon party and networking session in private bar with free drinks and fun!

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com

Originally published October 2, 2007 5:22 am ET