The Canada Revenue Agency (the Canadian equivalent of the IRS) just issued its first release on how it will treat virtual currencies for taxation purposes. There is not much new here — the CRA sent an e-mail to the CBC back in April about bitcoin taxation — and the government leaves several questions unanswered. Still, it’s an actual release from the CRA and not just a communication to a news outlet, which is helpful to those advising taxpayers. And even though the interpretation bulletins and the release do not have force of law, this communication does at least put up some signposts about the CRA’s thinking about bitcoin.

The release — styled one of the CRA’s fact sheets on “digital currency” — is available here.

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Today my mum phoned to explain how important it was that I go outside to get some sunshine. I had to tell her: So committed am I to gathering up the choicest morsels of news-meat that I will heedlessly flout my body’s basic Vitamin D requirements. Noble reader, if you find me sprawled in bed with my skin turned to dust (or whatever happens to people who don’t get enough sunlight), lay me on a poker table, set it alight and push it through the Rio. It’s what the Vikings would have wanted.

Aussie ‘Supergrass’ To Testify

The catalyst for Black Friday, Daniel Tzvetkoff, is to testify on April 9th at the trials of Chad Elie and John Campos. The Australian millionaire made his fortune as the head of Instabill, a payment processor frequently used by online poker players. After being arrested in April 2010 he become an informant, providing U.S. federal authorities with the evidence they needed to bring down PokerStars and Full Tilt. [The Australian]

UK Market No Longer Tax Free 

On Wednesday, a pasty-faced man with a red briefcase came before the people of Britain with a special list of things for the nation to complain about. The Budget, as it is more commonly known, contained information about big changes to the UK gaming sector. From now on operators will be required to pay tax on all profits generated by British players. [Poker Fuse]

Ups and Downs for Bwin

Bwin, the Austrian half of bwin.party, have had a mixed week. On the positive side, they released a new app for real-money poker on the iPad. Their network is now smushed together with Party Poker, so there should be plenty of action to keep you busy on the train or the toilet. Or the toilet on the train.

More negatively, Spanish lawmakers have decreed that football teams may not carry sponsorship logos belonging to companies not locally domiciled. Bwin operate from a zeppelin above the mountains of Mars Gibraltar and are therefore required to end their lucrative deal with league-topping Real Madrid. [Gaming Intelligence] & [The Olive Press]

All Alderney All the Time

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission added their 100th licensee this week in the form of the Relax Gaming network. Head of e-Commerce at Alderney, Robin LePrevost, was bullish about the island’s reputation after Black Friday, claiming that they have seen no slowdown in applications. Their questionable regulation of Full Tilt may not have stemmed the flow, but the addition of nearby Jersey to the license-providing market may have a more profound impact. [Card Player]

iSeriesLIVE to Debut in Ireland

The iSeriesLIVE is a brand new venture which allows viewers to wager on poker as it plays out live. The inaugural event takes place in Dublin on April 5th and features the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Faraz Jaka. As it unfolds, PaddyPower will be taking bets on the next elimination, how red or black the next flop will turn out, and all manner of ridiculous wagers. It’s all the fun of poker degeneracy without the inconvenience of actually having to actually play poker. [iSeriesLIVE]

I shall bid you adieu in the form of a congratulation. Noted wit-merchant David Mitchell is to tie the knot with poker player and journalist Victoria Coren. I’m happy for the couple, of course, but I’d mainly like to congratulate the universe for being a place in which two such interesting people can come together in the pursuit companionship and mysterious bedroom activities. A quick word to David, you might want to read up a little before the wedding night.

Many of the intellectual property issues I address as a gaming attorney are in poker representation agreements. These are agreements for poker pros to play for, endorse, and advertise for various poker brands, both Internet and land-based. Substantially all of the premier Internet poker sites with which I’m familiar employ pros. Some operators ask their pros to travel the world and represent their brands in high-profile land-based games and tournaments and on television. Other pros are incentivized to play more online and have less of a profile at bricks and mortar events.

I’ve acted for both poker pros and for poker operators in drafting and negotiating these types of agreements. The back-and-forth between the parties over who gets what specific rights to certain property (e.g., to the use of a personal branded website) and for how long is fascinating. It’s also critical to building poker brands and preserving one’s rights and value in poker properties. A pro negotiating one of these agreements will often want to ensure that her post-termination copyrights and rights of use are protected. An operator or a marketing rep will also want to be clear about what’s being purchased or licensed and the rights that are available to it post-termination.

The central question for the parties will be: what kind of commercial relationship are they after? In essence, what do they want from each other? The critical question for me as a lawyer is this: based on the commercial objectives, what are the rights of the parties that are in play based on the commercial objectives? Here are some of the things that I look out for in these kinds of contracts:

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