News
Steven Eichorn Explains the Unintended Consequences of NY’s DFS Law
The New York law legalizing and regulating paid-entry fantasy sports has an interesting provision that could keep out smaller operators that took a legally conservative approach to the state, in addition to relatively new operators in the space. The law just signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo allows all fantasy sports operators to apply for a license in the state…. Read More
Jeff Ifrah Explains Why the Skins-Betting Crackdown Just Saved Social Gaming’s Skin
Valve Corp’s crackdown on websites offering so-called skins betting on e-sports could help spur growth of licensed betting in the industry by removing a potential source of scandal, industry officials say. Washington State-based Valve this week issued 23 cease and desist orders to third-party websites that use its games software platform Steam to enable gambling… Read More
Jeff Ifrah Discusses Recent Lawsuits Over eSports Skins Betting with Gambling Compliance
A Connecticut video game player has filed a lawsuit against Valve, accusing the games developer and distributor of allowing illegal betting to occur on the first-person shooter game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). The plaintiff, Michael John McLeod, claims that Valve and third-party sites “knowingly allowed, supported, and or sponsored illegal gambling by allowing millions of… Read More
Michelle Cohen Explains Significance of Appeals Court Upholding of FCC Net Neutrality Rules
On 14 June 2016, theUS Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia upheld the validity of the Federal Communications Commission’s (‘FCC’) net neutrality rules, which classify broadband services as telecommunication services as opposed to information services. Michelle Cohen, Member of Ifrah Law, explains that “the court did not ask whether the agency’s decision is a good policy, but rather whether it is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of… Read More
Jeff Ifrah and Other Esports Lawyers Dissect CSGO Gambling Legal Issues in Reddit AMA
CSGO has a gambling problem. Valve is involved in a suit over whether CSGO’s key-and-crate loot system and the accompanying skin market should be defined and regulated as gambling, while a handful of YouTubers have been exposed as the owners of a skin gambling site they promoted. Another confessed that his gambling wins were staged… Read More
Nicole Kardell Explains How 2 Like Cases Against Calif. AG Harris Resulted in 1 Win, 1 Loss
Two Washington, D.C.-area organizations with separate lawsuits against California Attorney General and U.S. Senate-hopeful Kamala Harris over the same issue reached different outcomes. The Center for Competitive Politics (CCP) and Americans for Prosperity (AFP) alleged that Harris’ request to access each organization’s donor information violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. But… Read More
Jeff Ifrah Discusses Unusual GAO Objections Regarding Multi-billion Dollar Contract Bid
A security services contractor hit the U.S. Government Accountability Office with a lawsuit Wednesday in D.C. federal court to block the agency from releasing an unredacted bid protest decision containing sensitive information about the company it says could compromise its future competitive prospects. Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions LLC alleges that the GAO twice rejected every redaction… Read More
Michelle Cohen and Jessica Feil to Speak at 2016 NCLGS Summer Conference in Boston
The National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) is the only organization of state lawmakers that meets on a regular basis to discuss issues in regard to gaming. Members of NCLGS chair or are members of committees responsible for the regulation of gaming in their state legislative houses. NCLGS does not promote or oppose… Read More
Jeff Ifrah and Jessica Feil Point Out Weak Points in Esports Skins Lawsuit Against Valve
A recently-filed lawsuit that targets game developer Valve over the company’s alleged involvement in the skin gambling market may struggle to gain traction, according to legal experts. The suit was first reported by Polygon. You can read the complaint here. Read a brief primer on the market for skin gambling here. Suit ‘likely to be dismissed’ “I’d… Read More
Michelle Cohen Breaks Down FTC Complaints About the PCI Council & Antitrust Law
The US National Retail Federation (‘NRF’) announced on 2 June 2016 that it has written to the US Federal Trade Commission (‘FTC’), requesting that the FTC open an investigation into the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (‘PCI Council’), the credit card industry body that sets the PCI-DSS standards, on the basis of antitrust concerns…. Read More
