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TOP NEWS
MGM Mirage Closing Online Casino
MGM MIRAGE announced that it would discontinue
operations of its online casino, PLAYMGMMIRAGE.com,
on June 30, 2003.
"We set out to prove that online
casino gaming could be implemented with the same high
standards of regulatory integrity as land-based operations,"
said Terry Lanni, Chairman and CEO of MGM MIRAGE.
"We were successful in demonstrating
a working model that provided the proper checks for
jurisdictional control, age verification and the necessary
security and responsible gaming measures required to
function in a regulated market," Mr. Lanni said.
The company established MGM MIRAGE Online
in September of 2001 with the stated purpose of developing
an operational model that would ensure against money
laundering while providing customers with the same exciting
game content found in Las Vegas and other U.S. gaming
markets.
MGM MIRAGE confined its activities to
jurisdictions in which online wagering was permitted
and did not accept customers from the United States
and other jurisdictions which do not permit such activities.
"Unfortunately, even in light of
a successful working model, the legal and political
climate in the U.S. and several countries around the
world remains unclear. The fact is that millions of
U.S. citizens currently participate in online gaming
in an unregulated environment. We believe that a more
sound and realistic public policy would be to regulate
the activity and hold operators to the highest standards
of probity and integrity. MGM MIRAGE Online has clearly
established that the regulatory model works.
"In the meantime, millions of U.S.
citizens who are currently playing casino games online
every day must continue to do so without the protections
provided by common sense regulations that we believe
should be implemented. The day will clearly arrive when
this activity will be legalized and regulated and we
will participate fully at that time," Mr. Lanni
said.
As a result of the announcement, the company
will record a loss from discontinued operations of approximately
$5 million, net of tax, in the second quarter related
primarily to (1) unrecoverable costs of software and
hardware utilized in the operation, (2) second quarter
operating losses of MGM MIRAGE Online, and (3) tax benefits
related to the above items and to prior period operating
losses.
MGM MIRAGE Online is based in the Isle
of Man, an internally self-governing dependency of the
British Crown.
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