In This Issue:

ENFORCEABILITY OF IGAMING DEBTS IN ONTARIO:

As previously reported in Gaming Legal News, in October 2010 the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Divisional Court) ruled in the case of Bérubé v. Rational Entertainment Limited that an Ontario resident who incurred debts while betting and gaming online on a website operated and regulated from outside Canada (“offshore iGaming”) was responsible for those debts as a matter of contract. In that case, the agreement which the Ontario resident assented to in order to use PokerStars’ website was held to require the Ontario resident to verify the legality of the use of that website in her jurisdiction. This was held to be “a complete answer to…submissions concerning the enforceability of an illegal contract.”

In Canada, there has been no attempt to prosecute the operators of offshore iGaming websites under the Criminal Code (the “Code”) where the only real connection between the website and Canada is that some of its customers are located in Canada. Similarly, Canadian businesses that have provided goods or services to such operators have not been subject to prosecution.