The Vanuatu-based operation ceased operations yesterday and retrenched its 15 staff.

PBL blamed major regulatory changes in the online gaming industry for its decision to shut the loss-making operation, which was set up in January last year by PBL's internet company, ecorp Ltd.

Laws on money transfers have been tightened in many countries, while some major banks have banned clients from using their credit card to place bets on gaming websites.

"We have flagged at our past two results presentations that a review of our online gaming operations would be conducted prior to the end of this financial year," PBL chief executive Peter Yates said.

Source: www.news.com.au

There is an ancient Chinese proverb about gambling and goes like this: "If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: The rules of the game, the stakes and the quitting time.”

A U.S. trade official, speaking on condition that she not be identified, confirmed that a WTO panel had issued a final report that was "largely unchanged" from its preliminary ruling against the U.S. ban one month ago.

Since they couldn't go after the offshore operations directly, prosecutors started threatening to go after companies that aid and abet those offshore bookies. That could mean anybody who accepts advertising from offshore betting parlors, including the search engines.

Last June, Deputy Assistant Attorney General John G. Malcolm sent a letter to media trade groups warning that their members could be breaking the law by accepting ads for gambling sites. Meanwhile, Raymond W. Gruender, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, has convened a grand jury in St. Louis that is issuing subpoenas to companies that do business with the online gambling industry.

Michelle Carinci, in an interview with The Canadian Press, said the website is already being used to create a database of potential on-line gamblers.

This was as a result of regulatory changes made by the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency last year allowing Internet wagers on horse racing.

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, called the subpoenas and notice letters an "intimidation tactic to go after the messenger," rather than prosecute the online gaming sites that the Department of Justice alleges are violating the law.