Naked Law

e-asier on-line procurement forms introduced

The public tendering process is set to become more straightforward.  As part of the on-going EU strategy to move public procurement on-line, new electronic forms are to be made available.  The European Commission announced on 11 October 2005 new forms taking into account recent procurement directives 2004/18/EC and 2004/17/EC, covering amongst other things, framework agreements, e-auctions and other flexible purchasing methods. 

The Commission assures users that the new system, which allows adverts to be filed on-line, will speed up the publishing process as notices will be published in 5 days rather than 12.  New forms come into force on 21 October 2005, but national governments have until 31 January 2006 to roll out the forms.

Gambling Act 2005 - remote gambling

Elements of the Gambling Act 2005 have recently come into force, bringing about a number of changes to the regulation of the gambling industry.  The Government anticipates that the Act will be fully implemented by late 2007.  The Act modernises and codifies UK laws of gambling in a single piece of legislation. In particular it addresses the technological advances of recent years, by creating a licensing structure for ‘remote’ gambling as this form of gambling becomes more prevalent.

Section 4 of the Act sets out the definition of remote gambling. Remote gambling is defined as gambling in which people participate by the use of "remote communication". Remote communication means communication using the internet, telephone, television, radio or "any other kind of electronic or other technology for facilitating communication". This is designed to cover all forms of gambling where players are not face to face.

One of the major changes for the UK gambling industry brought about by the new Gambling Act 2005 is the regulation of remote gambling operations in this country. Whilst online betting has always been permitted under the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963, the Gaming Act 1968 prevented the establishment within the UK of an online or other remotely operated casino.

For a traditional casino, there are a number of regulations regarding the way in which casino games can be played. This ensures that customers are not exploited by unscrupulous operators skewing the odds in their favour. The Government has been keen to ensure, particularly in the online environment, that sufficient safeguards were put in place to ensure fairness for customers. As a result, under the Act, licensing requirements are placed on the providers of software to be used in online gambling operations.

Under section 41 of the Act, an offence is committed if, in the course of business, a person "manufactures, supplies, installs or adapts" computer software for use in connection with remote gambling, other than in accordance with an operating licence. Again this provision is very wide and potentially means that a number of software providers, whose software is used for a variety of applications, not just remote gambling, would have to obtain an operating licence.

Although principally aimed at regulating those who actually generate the software used in gambling applications, its ambit is potentially much wider and could suggest that an operator based outside the UK may need to be licensed in order to provide its UK customers with the software necessary to take advantage of its services.

Seeing the online world through rose tinted contact lenses

I have to confess to feeling a bit sorry for Ebay sometimes. If there is a breach of any law relating to online selling, Ebay seem to be first in the firing line. However, it is a good example of the lessons to be learned by anyone planning to set up a web site trading internationally - there are lots of local laws which may well catch you out.

Ebay's latest challenge - which is to see it in court in London next week - is over (of all things) contact lenses. The Opticians Act 1989 prohibits from sale "any optical appliance or zero powered contact lens unless the sale is effected by or under the supervision of a registered medical practitioner, a registered optometrist or a registered dispensing optician". Ebay's terms and conditions also prohibit the sale of contact lenses, but as the Act is a strict offence, this is unlikely to be sufficient to avoid liability for the site.

The General Optical Council, who are behind the action, say they alerted Ebay to the problem last year but it has failed to take steps to deal with the issue. Given the number of new listings placed on Ebay each day, it is hard to see how the site could easily comply with this type of regulation without employing an army of staff to check entries. Let's see if the job adverts start to appear...