The Kahnawake Gaming commission has reached an agreement with the Offshore Gaming Commission in Antigua and Barbuda.  The agreement will affect online casinos and their licenses.  Basically, the arrangement states licencees can host their servers either in Canada or Antigua.  The licensers have what is called an “inter-jurisdictional alliance.”  This means the casino can be licensed in Kahnawake or Antigua and Barbuda.  Anyone with an appropriate licence can move their business to either island in order to do business in the online world.

Mohawk Internet Technologies which has servers used by online casinos in Kahnawake will definitely benefit.  Antigua will even be able to host online casinos at the Mohawk site using their various technologies.  Despite the arrangement being made there are some who raise questions regarding the deal.  Kahnawake Gaming and their partners in Antigua feel the move is apt, but there are other operators who feel it isn’t the best deal.  For example operators based in these places can advertise in the UK.  The UK doesn’t feel this is right since they haven’t been licensed for the UK.

Kahnawake is not whitelisted and they also do not have the backing of the Quebec government.  Since that is the case they have a bit more leeway than other casinos at the moment.  All of this could change since they are making the new deal.  The general counsel for the gaming commission spoke up about the new deal.  Murray Marshall said Antigua is on the white list, which means it benefits only Antigua’s licensees.  The new deal will offer a new flexibility for licensing.

As for how this might affect the rest of the gaming world it all depends on the laws of the other countries.  At the moment the UK is attempting to tax any casino that wishes to operate in their country.  They are also requiring a licence to be held by those who will operate for UK players.  A deal in which two casinos are willing to share servers and make a more flexible situation could cause other countries to seek less regulation.  On the other hand more players get to experience online casinos that have top technology, where they may not have had that option before.  For now it seems most will sit back and watch how this partnership works or doesn’t work over time to see if it is something to consider.