The state of Maine has introduced new legislation which formally prohibits sweepstakes, establishing new civil penalties for unlawful operation within state borders.
As such, both operating and promoting sweepstakes in Maine is now officially outlawed, as this latest bill clarified the previously grey definitions of the practice, which is now defined as 'unlawful gambling.' Signed by the Secretary of the Senate, Darek M. Grant, the bill specifically targets any and all game types which utilize a dual-currency system - closing the real-money loophole used by many sweeps operators to simulate a casino-style experience with via virtual currencies - such as tokens or coins.
This system would see one currency which yields no real-monetary value paired with an additional currency that does. Now, if an organization is found to be undertaking this action within Maine's state borders, they will be subject to financial penalties ranging between $10,000 - $100,000, as specified by this new bill. Indeed, these funds will be distributed in their entirety to the Gambling Addiction Prevention and Treatment Fund.
Further specified as part of this new legal act are the ramifications of any gaming operators currently licensed by the Maine Gambling Control Unit for gaming operations in the state. Licensed operators found to be running sweepstakes products in Maine will be subject to license revocation. Those in violation of this new law will no longer be eligible for Maine licensure.
This latest development closely follows similar action in Florida, where lawmakers also introduced anti-sweepstakes regulation earlier this week - much to the disappointment of the SGLA. Elsewhere, last month Google introduced a damaging reclassification for the sector, with the search engine amending its advertising policy to now classify sweepstakes as 'gambling', removing it from its previous 'social casino games' classification.
Nevertheless, despite recent regulatory scrutiny, speaking exclusively to Global Gaming Insider in November James Bennett - Managing Editor of SweepChecker.com - underlined that the sweepstake industry continues to grow and is now subject to potential underestimation in the industry.
Almost 20 states have now officially declared sweepstakes as 'illegal gambling'
