(PRESS RELEASE) — Net Entertainment has signed a license agreement with Italy’s largest remote gaming service provider Microgame for the delivery of CasinoModule™. Under the terms of the agreement Net Entertainment will be the strategic casino provider of choice to Microgame. The agreement further solidifies Net Entertainments position within the online market and is a major breakthrough as it gives access to the vast Italian gaming market which is in the process of becoming regulated.

Founded in 1996, Microgame is Italy’s largest independent remote gaming service provider. Microgame’s market share in poker and sports betting is 25% and 28% respectively and the company manages well over 1,300.000 game accounts on behalf of its Italian authorized customers. During 2008 Microgame’s customers generated over 490 million Euros of gross gaming revenues while the revenues of Microgame itself exceeded 85 million Euros.

The Net Entertainment CasinoModule™ gives Microgame access to an extensive range of market leading casino content to complement its existing product portfolio. Fabrizio D’Aloia, CEO of Microgame says; “we are very happy to join Net Entertainment to our exciting gaming project for the new emerging Italian casino games market. The worldwide recognized Net Entertainment’s expertise in the casino games development and marketing will be strategic for Microgame to maintain the leadership on the Italian online gaming market”.

Italy is the first country in Europe to regulate the domestic online gaming market through licensing, and the development is monitored with interest by several European countries. Microgame is a gaming service provider authorized by the Autonomous Administration of State Monopolies (AAMS).

“Gambling is huge in Italy and is expected to generate a Gross Gaming Yield exceeding 17 Billion Euro in 2009 making it the country’s third largest industry. In light of this, it is obviously extra encouraging that one of the dominant incumbents selects Net Entertainment as their strategic casino partner thereby giving us a substantial footprint in a totally new market.” says Johan Öhman, CEO of Net Entertainment.

Internet Gambling

Canada-based Optimal Group Inc has agreed to pay $19.2 million in criminal proceeds from processing payments for illegal Internet gambling websites between 2004 and 2006, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday.

They said Optimal acknowledged that Internet gambling merchants broke U.S. criminal law by offering gambling in the United States.

“Optimal, operating an electronic wallet called Firepay, processed more than $2 billion worth of illegal gambling transactions for United States customers,” a statement by the office of the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan said.

The company said in its own statement earlier on Friday that it would forfeit $19,182,418.82 to the U.S. government.

It said that, under the terms of an agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, the company would not be prosecuted but “a total of $19,182,418.18 will be forfeited to the United States by the Company and its subsidiaries.”

The amount reflected “disgorgement of property involved in and proceeds received from the payment processing services that were provided by the Company’s subsidiaries to Internet gambling merchants in relation to U.S. customers of such merchants.”

U.S. prosecutors said Optimal processed transactions originating from customers in the United States until Oct. 13, 2006, when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was signed into law. It disposed of most of its payment processing business and is now principally a toy and consumer electronic company.