U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued the following news releases:
A Danish law imposing lower taxes on online casinos than those set for land-based ones complies with EU state aid rules because the positive effect of liberalizing the sector outweighs possible competition distortions, the European Commission said Tuesday. The 2010 measure opened up the gambling market, which had been a state monopoly, the EC said. The Gaming Duties Act subjects Internet providers of casino games and gaming machines to a tax of 20 percent on gross gaming revenue (stakes minus winnings) compared with up to 75 percent for physical casinos and gambling halls, it said. In assessing the law’s legality, the EC took into account the availability of sometime illicit online offers from operators established in other countries or subject to low or no taxation, it said. A tax that made the offer of Danish online gambling operators too expensive would have made market liberalization useless, it said. The decision establishes that a lower rate of tax for Internet gambling amounts to state aid but is nevertheless compatible with EU rules, it said. The ruling ends a year of legal uncertainty, said the European Gaming and Betting Association. It confirms that to be efficient, online gambling regulations “must be competitive as the black market is only a ‘click’ away on the internet,” it said. Online operators are subject to much higher global competition than land-based companies, said EGBA Secretary General Sigrid Ligné. The latter’s business model is completely different from Internet operators because casinos in particular are essentially local monopolies in their specific geographical markets, she said. Economic studies show that the total tax collected under a higher tax rate would eventually be lower than the amount received on the basis of a tax rate such as that in the Danish law, she said.
Google should not be punished for providing a superior product, search engine experts said on a panel Tuesday hosted by the Computer and Communications Industry Association. There is healthy competition in the online search market and the FTC should carefully consider the impact that regulation could have on consumers, they said.
Mexico's Diario Oficial of September 19, 2011 lists notices from the Secretary of the Economy as follows:
The top two executives from Evergreen, Colo.-based Executive Recycling Inc. each face up to 52 years in prison on wire fraud and other charges stemming from allegations they illegally shipped hundreds of thousands of lead-laden CRTs and other e-waste to China, according to a federal indictment handed down Thursday in U.S. District Court in Denver. Executive Recycling was the firm profiled in the November 2008 60 Minutes expose on clandestine e-waste exports to developing countries.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is announcing that the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC) will meet on October 4, 2011 in El Paso, TX from 1 pm to 6 pm.
GENEVA -- The first U.S. group proposals to the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) are the first to address the agenda for the 2015 conference. They include items on wireless avionics intra-communications, a review of the use of the band 5091-5150 MHz by the fixed satellite service (FSS), continued studies to allow uninterrupted future operation of mobile satellite service (MSS) systems, wireless broadband services, modernization of the Global Maritime Distress Safety System and a review of the Radio Regulations for e-navigation. The U.S. proposal on wireless broadband services hasn’t appeared on the ITU website, a source said. It was described in July by U.S. officials (CD July 29 p9). The 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference will recommend to the ITU Council agenda items for WRC-15.
GENEVA -- Difficult sharing studies have prompted several administrations to oppose some or all of the proposed bands under a WRC-12 agenda item on possible new mobile satellite service (MSS) allocations to spur advanced wireless communications, according to early proposals. Some regional groups, notably the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions, and certain administrations are expected to introduce proposals that may contain support.
Public safety would get the 700 MHz D-block, under the proposed American Jobs Act released late Monday by President Barack Obama. The legislation also authorizes several spectrum auctions to fund the network. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., praised the bill for including proposals similar to his proposed Spectrum Act (S-911).
Deep Silver’s Dead Island became the best-selling game in the U.K. its first week available, according to the Association for U.K. Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) Games Charts compiled by GfK Chart-Track for the week ended Saturday. The Xbox 360 version accounted for 68 percent of its sales, while the PS3 SKU was 29 percent and the PC version 3 percent. THQ’s Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine was No. 2 in its first week out, with the two 360 versions combining for 66 percent of the title’s sales -- far ahead of the PS3 and PC SKUs. PC retail sales for Space Marine were higher than those for Dead Island, possibly because the THQ title wasn’t available on the U.K. Steam website at launch, UKIE said. Deus Ex: Human Revolution for the 360, PS3 and PC from Square Enix’s Eidos division, the No. 1 game for two straight weeks (CED Sept 7 p7, Aug 31 p15), fell to No. 5 in its third week as sales tumbled 60 percent from the prior week. Ubisoft’s multiplatform Driver: San Francisco dipped one to No. 3 in its second week as sales fell 6 percent. Sony Computer Entertainment’s Resistance 3 for the PS3 was No. 4 in its first week. There was one other new release in the top 10: Nintendo’s Star Fox 64 3D for the 3DS, at No. 9. It was the first time four new releases cracked the top 10 since week 13 of this year, UKIE said. Another new release, NHL 12 from Electronic Arts (EA), narrowly missed the top 10, landing at No. 12. Zumba Fitness from 505 Games for the Wii, 360 and PS3 fell three to No. 6 in its 24th week, while the same publisher’s Rugby World Cup 2011 for the 360 and PS3 fell three to No. 7 in its third week. Disney’s multiplatform Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game dropped three to No. 8 in its 18th week. Sony’s Gran Turismo 5 for the PS3 returned to the top 10, at No. 10. Dropping out of the top 10 were Disney’s multiplatform Cars 2, down three at No. 11 in its eighth week; Activision’s multiplatform Call of Duty: Black Ops, down six, No. 13 in its 41st week; and three EA multiplatform games: FIFA 11, down five, No. 14, 50th week; The Sims 3, down six, No. 16, 42nd week; and Madden NFL 12, down 11, No. 17, second week.