Agcom is analysing the ban on gaming advertising, which future for affiliations?

Three months after the entry into force of the Dignity Decree's ban on games advertising, Agcom's indications are expected, between industry and affiliates doubts.

One thing is for sure: the ban on games advertising introduced by the current Italian government through the Dignity decree is certainly the most critical and disputable law ever seen before in the Italian public gaming sector. Despite the sector saw many absurd and questionable laws. However, never before we saw such a large number of questions, doubts over interpretation, requests for clarification, which can't promise anything but an endless series of disputes, that will be caused by too many critical issues raising, day after day, from the application of the rule. We have been dealing with it, more or less every day, for months by now. AGCOM, the Italian Authority for the guarantee of telecommunications, plays a decisive role in the future of industry communications: the government gave it the responsiblity to monitor the effective implementation of the ban on advertising, by imposing sanctions provided, if needed. But before that, the Authority will have to appropriately regulate the ban: that is a total ban on paper, but also very difficult to be implemented, in practice. As highlighted, not without reason, by Agcom, in the study carried out by the Gioco News magazine and published in the November issue of the magazine (also available online), in which all the critical issues of the case appear. THE FLOOR TO AGCOM - "The Authority, in the face of a provision giving it a sanctioning authority on a field that is much bigger of its supervisory skills in the field of marketing and advertising, has decided to start a series of informal meetings with all the stakeholders who have requested it, in order to acquire information on the reference market as well as on the critical issues deriving from the law", Agcom says. "However, currently no definition or conclusion has been reached, as these are informal contacts, which in any case falls within the competence of the collective bodies of the Authority (in this case, the Council) which express themselves through formal acts, something that has not yet happened because there are ongoing in-depth studies. Certainly the formulation of the rule, which requires an addition intervention to better clarify the real subjective and objective extension in practical application, in particular about concepts of advertising and sponsorships, requires a regulatory application intervention by the Authority, which will however be adopted after consulting all the stakeholders and its ways (if guidelines or other regulatory acts) are still currently under discussion.Of course, the intervention will be carried out in time allowing the start of the supervisory activities for sure within the deadlines set by the law for the adjustment of sponsorship agreements and purchasing of advertising spaces". WHAT HAPPENS TO THE AFFILIATES? - Therefore, a provision of the Authority will specifically regulate the limits of application of the ban imposed by the government, overcoming, we hope, the many doubts of interpretation repeatedly described by the industry and the experts. While one of the most recurring questions continues to be the one related to the future of affiliation activities. This is certainly one of the major points of interest within the online Italian market (and not just). Yes, because the so-called affiliation activity - that is, the recruitment of players through marketing and communication activities carried out by third parties and skilled companies - has become a cornerstone of the online gaming sector at an international level. We only need to look at the large number of events exclusively dedicated to the "affiliations" business, that increase globally. In Italy, this sector is at risk of disappearing, due to the restrictions imposed by the dignity decree and the total ban on advertising and promotion. Although many analysts believe that this activity should be considered as a commercial action and not an advertisement, in view of the business procurement carried out by real "trading agents" or similar, the fact is that these operations can also be included in the "gaming promotion" mentioned in the decree. Moreover, the fact that the figure of the affiliate has never found some formal definition by the regulator makes it more difficult. Not in Italy, at least. THE RECOGNITION OF THE AFFILIATES - We need to go to Denmark to find the few references to this type of "professional" figure (confirming the dynamism of a regulator that is certainly careful to the various dynamics of gaming market), where the local Authority clearly expressed as regards affiliation activities: "In 2017 - the Danish regulator writes - international attention has intensified on the use of affiliates by license holders (for online gaming), in particular on the way in which affiliates market the products of license holders. As a matter of principle, under the Gambling Act license holders can involve subcontractors in sending or even marketing production to the licensee. Licensees are therefore authorized to involve a third party to market their products. However, the use of an affiliate doesn't protect license holders from liability for the content of their marketing material. The Danish Gambling Authority claims that it is up to the licensee to ensure that the marketing is in compliance with Danish law." With a lot of attention also for the possible "fake news" related to online gaming: "In 2017 - the regulator still writes - we noticed that some marketing activities were starting to look like news article: in the form, the content and the choice of media. This often takes the form of a true news article written again to tell the story of a person who has been successful in gambling or methods to increase winning odds. The source of these articles was often an affiliation. However, our position is clear - in such cases it is still the responsibility of license holders to ensure that their marketing complies with Danish law".