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As reported in a previous post, the Italian Parliament has passed regulations on gaming advertising that will come into effect from the 1st of January 2013. However, in order to clarify the scope of such gaming laws, the Italian gambling authority, AAMS has issued instructions on logos and statements to be incorporated in any gambling ad.
In particular, AAMS clarified gaming advertising obligations prescribing that, among others, their two logos, the details and license number of the operator, the 18+ logo and statement as well as gambling addiction and payout information notices shall be included in gambling advertisements.
This might create some issues in relation to banners whose size is very limited and unable to fit all the information required according to AAMS’ instructions and therefore we expect that operators will enquire AAMS on what information shall be included in such cases especially because fines up to € 500,000 are applicable for the breach of such obligations.
Also, AAMS’ instructions have not clarified the most controversial gaming law point raised in our previous post i.e. what is the scope of the provision prohibiting any advertisement aimed at “creating an incentive to the gambling activity or to exalt the game“? This might prohibit any type of gaming advertising and the likely outcome is that major operators that can bear the cost of potential fines will take the risk of more aggressive marketing campaigns, while other operators will stop advertising their products through the major channels of communication (e.g. TV) in order to avoid potential fines.
Indeed, this lack of clear instructions puts operators in a kind of limbo and a more detailed review of gambling advertisements will be necessary before their launch. Do you want to discuss the above? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio to discuss. Also, if you want to receive my newsletter, please join my LinkedIn Group or my Facebook page. And follow me on Twitter, Google+ and become one of my friends on LinkedIn.
