Gambling News by House of Odds

American companies may suffer from the legal piracy of movies, music, computer programs, and other intellectual property after the international regulator of free trade, the World Trade Organization, ruled that a ban on Internet Gambling services provided by companies abroad is unlawful. The WTO decision this week is the culmination of a long-running dispute between the U.S. Commerce Department .U.S. May Suffer After WTO Rules Against Internet Gambling Ban (The New York Sun)

Germany is set to prohibit online gambling starting on Jan. 1. While legislators see the ban as a pillar of consumer protection, critics say the accord only serves to protect the state monopoly on lotteries.Germany Set to Ban Online Gambling as of January (Deutsche Welle)

SAN FRANCISCO , Dec. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- While Internet search engine giants Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO ) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG ) recently settled with the United States government on claims the companies made millions through promoting illegal online gambling, a civil trial set to begin on February 11 will further test the liability of these companies in California, and will ask the courts to .Google and Yahoo! Gambling Promotion Trial Approaches, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro Announces (The San Francisco Examiner)

New regulations, which take effect Jan. 1, have drawn criticism from Internet betting companies and lottery brokers.Germany set to prohibit online gambling (International Herald Tribune)

Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Online gambling will be banned in Germany as of Jan. 1 after German states ratified an accord that preserves the country's state monopoly for lotteries and most forms of betting.Germany to Ban Online Gambling Jan. 1 Under Accord by States (Bloomberg.com)

Find out what stories made the Top News of 2007 in this online gambling industry special report. http://www.casinogamblingweb.comTop Gambling News Stories of 2007 ( via Yahoo! News)