State officials have published new regulations for administering internet gambling in Delaware. The regulations were posted last month by the state lottery office.
Some of the highlights of the proposed regulations:
• The lottery director would have latitude to authorize any and all online games, including the standard slot and table games and “any other game which is determined by the director to be compatible with the public interest and to be suitable for use after such appropriate test or experimental period as the director may deem appropriate.”
• Tournaments involving any and all approved games are permitted at the director’s discretion.
• The term “internet lottery” is applied to all online gaming activity, “including internet ticket games, the internet video lottery and internet table games.”
• A “technology provider” is defined as “any person or entity who proposes to contract with an internet lottery agent or the agency for the provision of goods or services related to an internet lottery.”
• There is a prohibition on licensing any entity for internet gaming if any of its officials have a conviction “within 10 years before the filing of the application, of any felony, a crime of moral turpitude or a crime involving gambling.” This would tend to exclude the internet gaming entities indicted by the federal government in the 2011 “Black Friday” i-gaming shutdowns.
• The application fee for a Technology Provider license is set at $4,000, and the applicant must cover the cost of the lottery’s background check.
• Companies licensed as Technology Providers cannot have direct financial interest in the operation of any of the games.
Other regulations set up minimum internal control standards, and place enforcement of punishment for violations under the control of the lottery director.
