9:27 AM
Breakfast at the Hilton - I had a brief scan of the NY Times (International Edition) and the U.S. financial crisis is all over the place. Any chance they can sneak through the Frank and McDermott bills as provisions under the $700 billion emergency bailout plan for U.S. banks? The money has to come from somewhere, doesn't it?

10:02 AM
Considering that this is a Europe-focused event, I'm trying as hard as possible to stay away from US issues, but I find myself starting day 2 watching the US law session. Sorry. Expanding on my iMEGA article posted yesterday, I heard last night from another U.S. lawyer who plans to fight the action on behalf of clients who made the Kentucky list.

The US legal panel:
Frank Catania, President, Catania Consulting Group
Mark Hichar, Partner, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP
Jason Kellerman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, PurePlay
Mark Mendel, Legal Advisor to Antigua and Barbuda, Mendel Blumenfeld LLP

10:06 AM
Breaking news from the home front: PETA is urging Ben & Jerry's to use human breast milk rather than cow's milk in their ice cream. This would be great for sales. By the way, why do they need to insert the word "breast?" That it comes from the breast, as far as I know, is a foregone conclusion. Imagine if we followed this pattern when discussing other secretions and excretions.

10:53 AM
Panelist Frank Catania says some of the Kentucky defendants have already surrendered their domain names. He also said the court order was crap because there was no due process.

The US Legal panel

10:59 AM
More news from the home front: CNN.com reports that former American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken is gay. That's news?

11:10 AM
Very little was said about the Kentucky situation. I have a feeling this one will go he way of the Peter Dicks detention.

11:13 AM
The EU Update panel begins. The aim is to have a debate between a monopoly supporter and an open market supporter. Petter Nylander of Unibet represents the market. Jeanette Strom of Svenska Spel represents the monopolists.

Nylander gets things rolling by explaining that, contrary to arguments made by state governments, commercialization has actually increased player protection and he stresses that governments should regulate, not operate. The UK model, he says, is the right approach.

11:16 AM
Strom reminds the audience that Sveska Spel isn't exactly a pure monopoly in Sweden; they have 32 percent of the market. She also acknowledges that cross-border gaming is "an absolute must," but stresses that it will take time getting there. She has doubts about how commercialization can proceed in a controlled manner.

Sweden is considering a licensed market, but they want to make a distinction that's kind of strange: "Dangerous" games (those with instant results) would remain in the government's control, while "safe" games would be available to open market.

11:31 AM
Nylander on Strom's argument that the states control the operation of gambling services only because they are looking out for the best interest of the consumer: "Sorry, but this is all bullshit." Nylander says supporters of Europe's gambling monopolies are hypocrites and reiterates that states should regulate, not operate. "It's a taxation tool," Nylander says, followed by a hearty applause from the audience.

Could Nylander's comments result in a PETA-Petter showdown over whether it is humane to exploit bovine defecation for the sake of making a point? It would not be his first experience with conflict.

Anyway, we now have ourselves a nice little argument. A paraphrased version of the volley:

Nylander: States advertise gambling services extensively and that there is clearly a commercial interest.

Strom: We advocate social responsibility in our advertising.

Nylander: This has only been the case for the last year, and states have been playing the social responsibility card too long.

Strom: There are rules in Sweden, and they should be respected.

11:39 AM
Nylander says the dangerous gaming/safe gaming model is "ridiculous" and then explains that you can play "dangerous" games at pizza shops and other places that are hardly qualified to uphold social responsibility standards. (When he brought up pizza shops, I thought for a second he was inferring that is socially irresponsible to serve pizza, which I suppose one could argue with some degree of success.)

11:41 AM
An audience member tells Nylander that he is dreaming and wants to know if Nylander really believes the market will open up as he predicts

Nylander: "You have to believe that if you can dream it, you can do it."

3:20 PM
The "Launching Pad" sessions are well attended. EiG attendees in general seem to have a thirst this year for new products. Diversification is more crucial now than ever.

I love the concept of this session. A handful of entrepreneurs have 10 minutes each to familiarize the audience with their startups. A panel of experts throws some constructive questions at the speakers and at the end of the session, the panelists pick the concept they believe shows the most potential. The Presenters:
Alex Czajkowski, CEO, e-gaming 2.0
Sean Glass, Founder and Chairman, Pikum!
Dave McDowell, CEO, FSB Technology (UK) Ltd
Jason Trost, CEO / Co-Founder, Smarkets

3:33 PM
The panelists - Ken Arnold (CyberArts), Mark Blandford (Valhalla Investments). Leigh Nissim (St. Minver) and Paul Kanareck (FreemantleMedia Ventures) - are excellent. Blandford and Nissem in particular have some splendid no-nonsense questions for the panelists: "What's the investment value to this product?" "What's the lifetime cost of a player?" "How much are you trying to raise?" Blandford concisely communicates his views on what believes makes a startup a good candidate for capital. If anyone knows what it takes to start up a company, it's him. And it is clear from his comments today and yesterday that he feels strongly about the importance of a good management team.

And the winner is. . . FSB Tech. McDowell wowed them the most. The panelists insist, however, that they were impressed with all of the presentations. Moderator Mark Walker polled the audience as well (prior to revealing the panelists' choice) and they concurred that FSB was superior. It's a clean sweep.

The prize is an exclusive in iGaming Business magazine, although I'm not sure how exclusive it can be.