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The UK based discount airline, Ryanair, announced this week that they plan to offer their passengers online gambling to keep them entertained while flying to their destinations.

The airline is constantly looking for ways to streamline their services, and make them easier and better for travelers.  The CEO, Michael O’Leary, says that apart from installing online gambling, the airline has plans to eliminate airport check-ins, as well as checked luggage.

The discount airline has flights that service the United Kingdom, Europe and some Mediterranean destinations, which will make it easier for Ryanair to obtain the necessary licenses they will need to offer their passengers Internet gambling.

A number of flyers are somewhat put off by the extra fees charged by Ryanair.  While the basic flight is cheap, passengers are expected to pay for the use of onboard restroom facilities, and other services that other airlines offer as part of the basic ticket price.  It is expected that online gambling will be a big attraction for customers who may have otherwise preferred to travel on flights that do not nickel and dime their flyers.

The exact plans for the high flying Internet gaming system have not been revealed at this time, however, it looks as if Ryanair is considering a partnership with one of the European online casino operators that are well-known and successful in the online gambling community.

Ryanair believe that not only will they attract new customers by offering the online casino service, but they will also create new revenues at the same time.

iMEGA (Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association) and the attorneys representing the United States Department of Justice have been informed by the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals that they should be ready to present their oral representations in Philadelphia, on the 7th July 2009.

When iMEGA originally filed the suit against the US Department of Justice, in order to question the legal validity of the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act), they questioned whether the act was Constitutional, and also asserted that the only reason the law was still around was because of political maneuvering.  iMEGA feel that the act should be removed because it is simply too vague.

New evidence showing the problems that have arisen because of the vague wording of the UIGEA, such as online payments for state lotteries being incorrectly blocked by financial institutions, may or may not be accepted as evidence for the case since they occurred after the case went to court originally.  The Department of Justice is certainly working hard to suppress this evidence because it would hurt their case.

iMEGA’s chairman, Joe Brennan, Jr. said “We feel very confident that when the judges take a look at the law, they will see just how defective it is, and they will overturn it.”

Nicholas J. Bagley and Jacqueline Coleman will be representing the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Federal Reserve, while former US Deputy Attorney General, Stephen Saltzburg, and Eric Bernstein, will be representing iMEGA in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case involving 141 Internet domain names, which the state of Kentucky wish to seize as gambling devices, and were instructed not to do so by the Court of Appeals is now being dealt with in the Kentucky Supreme Court.  The Court of Appeals ruled in iMEGA’s (Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association) favor when they ruled that the domain names may not be seized according to the state of Kentucky’s law.

iMEGA filed their brief with the Supreme Court towards the end of May, and the state of Kentucky’s attorneys were meant to file their brief on the 17th June.

Some say “better late than never,” but filing a brief to the Supreme Court a day late could not have helped Kentucky’s already flimsy case.  The brief should have been given to the court on 17th June, but was filed the next day on the 18th June.

When the court asked the state’s attorneys to explain why the brief was late, they said that they had calculated that the 18th was the date it was due, and added that the work involved in writing the brief was voluminous.

The next step that will be taken is for the Supreme Court to review both briefs and make a decision as to whether the case needs further judicial review.  Should the decision for further judicial review be taken, the court will set a date for a hearing at which both parties will be given the opportunity to present their cases.  If not, the decision made by the Court of Appeals stands.

The Utah Transit Authority offers their commuters a free service of wireless Internet that has been set up in a number of areas in the state.  Commuters wishing to use this free service on buses and commuter trains need to be over the age of 18.

Although there is a minimum age limit for the free Wi-Fi system, the Utah Transit Authority has chosen to filter out websites with certain themes, in order to protect the children who also ride the public transport, and may be affected by what they see.  Users are already unable to access pornographic websites, with gambling websites the next on the list to be filtered out.

Those wishing to use the free system have to agree to the content filter of “offensive” websites before using the service.  The filter, however, does not managed to block all the sites that are considered offensive.  Gerry Carpenter, a spokesperson for the Utah Transit Authority, has explained that transit police officers will do the work that the automatic filters do not managed to do.  He said “Enforcement would be by a transit police officer who would have to make a judgement call prior to issuing a citation.”

First time violators will receive fines of $300, with subsequent violations reaching as much as $500.  The Utah Transit Authority did not stop at this, and have decided that even those using their own private Internet access can be fined $100 for accessing websites the Transit Authority consider offensive.  Once again, the reason sited is that children may see the offending material.  One wonders what kind of effect it could possibly have on children to see an adult playing online slots or blackjack.

Even gamblers that do not have gambling problems or addictions can find that their spending can get a bit out of control at times.  Internet gamblers in the United Kingdom are fortunate to have a new solution that can help all online gamblers keep track of their money and stay within their budgets.

The solution to gambling within a budget is the Eclipse Prepaid Mastercard.  The card is a prepaid debit card that is used only for online gambling transactions.  Players can set their own limits, and not limits set by some other body, thereby taking responsibility for how much their gambling expenditure is.

Funds can be deposited to the debit card account from a regular bank account by telephone and by other wired services.  In this way, players can pre-decide how much they can spend at any one time, and not worry that they might go over what they can afford, and be stuck with high overdraft charges.

The UK charity, GamCare, gives advice, information and support to those with gambling problems or with concerns that they are beginning to have such problems.  Eileen Kinghan of GamCare said “Using a prepaid debit card when gambling online can help players stick to the limits they set themselves.  This is one way of gambling responsibly and helping gamblers to avoid financial difficulties.”

GamCare, and other organizations that support those with gambling problems, feel that a prepaid debit card is a very good start to help those with potential and actual gambling problems.