From iGaming Business – Social game firm Zynga and toy company Hasbro have unveiled the latest instalment of a partnership that combines toys and social gaming. Venturebeat.com reports Hasbro is working on a CityVille Invasion line of Kre-O block-building toys while Zynga has launched a Kre-O CityVille Invasion app. The idea behind the initiative is for gamers to build and defend their own cities in the app, while they can bring the game to live by constructing buildings using Kre-O – a rival to Lego. The Zynga-Hasbro toys will be available from August 1. The combination is another in a…

From The Journal – JUSTICE MINISTER ALAN Shatter has published details of the forthcoming Gambling Control Bill which aims to update and modernise Ireland’s gambling laws and allow for the introduction of a limited number of casinos in the State. The legislation will repeal and replace all existing arrangements for the regulation of betting, gaming, bingo and lotteries – except for the National Lottery – and will extend licensing to the booming online gambling industry. “This legislation has the twin objective of effectively regulating the new and dynamic gambling sector that has emerged in recent years, while also providing the opportunity to…

From iGaming Business – The Netherlands Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of Bubble Group BV, the parent company behind iGaming software specialist Sheriff Gaming, in a case brought against it by Betsoft, another iGaming software specialist. Betsoft claimed Sheriff Gaming’s 3D online casino products infringed its intellectual property (IP) rights and brought a case against Sheriff Gaming earlier this year, claiming IP infringements in connection with the zooming effect of its Expandicon feature, which it believed copied the look, style and feel of Betsoft games. The Court of Appeal concluded that there was no evidence to support Betsoft’s…

From iGaming Business – Social and skill gaming operators working in the French market are bracing themselves for a proposed change in the law that could see them forbidden in the first instance and at a future date subject to regulation, most likely by ARJEL, France’s online gaming authority. The new regulation would ban any game of skill or chance that requires a financial transaction in order to play and offers any ‘hopes of gain’. The new measures are part of discussions on the reform of French consumer law and plan to amend to the law on lotteries and games…

From Poker Fuse The PokerStars and 888 poker apps have been removed from the Apple App Store at the request of the government, pokerfuse understands. No formal statements have yet been released from any parties involved, but tweets from PokerStars to concerned players have confirmed that the app was pulled country-wide, and players are directed to voice their concerns with the authorities. “Your local authorities are the best point of call for information. As far as we know it’s a ‘clamp down’ on mobile gaming,” reads one tweet made Sunday. The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 in Australia prohibits most forms…

From iGaming Business – New gambling legislation, which will extend licensing to online gaming and limit the number and size of casinos in Ireland, has been published by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter. The Irish Times newspaper reports a fund to help treatment for problem gamblers has also been included in the Gambling Control Bill. In a statement, Shatter said the new legislation is aimed at regulating the ‘new and dynamic gambling sector’ and will help ‘protect vulnerable adults and young people’. The new bill states that anyone offering gambling services must have a license; replacing all…