Romania's First Online Casino

by Rob van der Gaast

Romania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, entered the Internet gambling space June 25 with the launch of Danube Casino, the nation's first online casino.

The site is the creation of Nicolae Sfetcu, the maverick owner of Multimedia SRL and this year's winner of the prestigious Business Initiative Directions, WQC International Star Award (Gold Category Paris 2003), who was predestined to become the owner of an Internet casino.

Sfetcu developed an affinity for poker and bridge around 20 years ago as a student and became a master at both games. I have never considered that poker, as well as bridge, are games, because in games you need luck," he explained. "For bridge or poker, the luck plays a secondary role."

He became one of the first presidents of a bridge club in Romania. After graduating from college, he specialized in Internet business services.

"Helped by my previous experience in Internet marketing, and being advantaged by the fact that I know very well the psychology of the gamblers, I had some successful marketing campaign for online casinos and affiliates which wanted to promote their own sponsored links through their Web sites or advertisements in my own network," Sfetu said.

That network is the Teleactivities Network, which Sfetu says is one of the most complex Romanian integrated network of Internet resources for advertising and dissemination of information. It includes thousands of Web sites, forums, directories, mailing lists, newsletters, e-zines, Web rings and so on.

Within that network was the gambling portal Online-casino.ro, Sfetu's first venture in the gambling space. A customer suggested that he try operating an online casino, and he went on from there to launch Danube Casino.

Sfetu says he's operating legally in Romania because, as he puts it, "There are specific Romanian laws for gambling, however, none makes special references to online gambling. So, I could start without any problem."

Danube Casino is operated through a partnership with Windows Casino, a licensed, insured site that's certified by Safe Bet and approved by the Electronic Gaming Commission.

The new Romanian site offers over 125 different games based on European and American standards. Gamblers can win money as well as special prizes, such as a trip to Monte Carlo or a brand new Ferrari.

The site also features guides explaining game rules and offering strategy tips as well as 24/7 tech support through Multimedia SRL and Windows Casino

All transactions are in U.S. dollar. Payments can be made either by credit cards or through specialized services for the online processing of the money (NETeller, Firepay, Stormpay, Western Union, etc.).

About the Author
Rob van der Gaast has a background in sports journalism, sports marketing, the buying and selling of TV sports rights, and developing creative TV program ideas. After contriving a complete new sports betting concept that is, according him, "an absolute 'Topscorer' in the sports betting look-a-like industry, which is at the end of its life cycle," he went back to his journalistic roots. Now he is a well known gambling research analyst, who contributes to LotteryInsider, Interactive Gaming News, Internet Gambling Report and the (European) Lottery Files.

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GeCAD Won't Make Antivirus Software After Sale to Microsoft
2003-06-11 11:27 (New York)
GeCAD Won't Make Antivirus Software After Sale to Microsoft
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- GeCAD Software srl, a closely held Romanian security-program maker, will stop producing antivirus software as part of an agreement to sell its main product to Microsoft Corp., GeCAD's president said in Bucharest.
Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker, agreed yesterday to buy GeCAD's Reliable Antivirus software, known as RAV. Microsoft will use RAV to build its own product for guarding its Windows system and networks against viruses.
Microsoft is paying more than $10 million for the software license and intellectual property rights, Romanian newspapers Adevarul and Ziarul Financiar reported, cited unidentified sources close to the transaction. GeCad president Radu Georgescu wouldn't comment on the price.
``We will from now on focus on development of other basic security technologies,'' Georgescu said at a press conference in Bucharest. ``We will stop producing antivirus software as part of the contract with Microsoft.''
Microsoft had more than 70 security bugs in its programs in 2002 and is in the second year of a drive to overcome such flaws, including through purchasing antivirus software from other producers. The acquisition from GeCAD follows Microsoft's January purchase of Pelican Security Ltd., which is also based in Redmond and made antivirus products.
Bucharest Apartment
Georgescu started the software business in 1992 in his apartment in Bucharest with a single 286-processor personal computer. His company now has about 100 employees, has distributors in more than 60 countries and protects more than 10 million users worldwide.
GeCAD's 2002 sales totaled $3 million, while net income was about $700,000.
A ``few'' of GeCAD's employees will move to the U.S. to work for Microsoft in implementing the software, Georgescu said. He didn't say how many people Microsoft is hiring.
``Microsoft chose RAV because it has one of the highest detection rates of computer viruses in the world,'' said Silviu Hotaran, the head of Microsoft's Romanian subsidiary. GeCAD's ``independent platform'' feature that allows the software to work
> on different operating platforms also was a plus, he said.
GeCad's RAV is designed to work independently on all Windows types, as well as on MS-DOS and Linux systems. It detects and removes viruses, while also acting as a virus signature database for all of the modules and programs under any platform or operating system.
So-called viruses and worms can erase data from computers and prevent machines from exchanging information. A flaw in one of Microsoft's corporate network programs caused a worldwide Internet slowdown in January.

Conference to discuss socio-economic impact of Internet services in Europe
Record Control Number : 19947
Date : 2003-03-20
Category :  Event
General Information :
  A conference on the socio-economic impact of Internet services in Europe will take place on 25 and 26 September in Bucharest, Romania.
The event, entitled E-COMM-LINE 2003, aims to foster discussions on the latest viable, practical and scientific developments of electronic services in Europe.
It is hoped that the conference will contribute to the improvement of the economic and business environment and to the Commission's eEurope and eEurope plus action plans.
Organised by the research and development institute (IPA)  and the academy of economic studies in Bucharest the conference will bring together representatives from European governments, industry, research centres and firms involved in ebusiness.
The conference is co sponsored by the European Commission, the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research and the chamber of commerce.
Data Source Provider : Research and development institute in Bucharest (IPA)
Document Reference : Based on an event announcement
Subject Index Codes : Information Processing, Information Systems
Contact Person : For further information, please contact:
IPA SA
Tel: +40212300591
Fax: +40212307063
E-mail: bruda@ipa.ro
http://www.ipa.ro/webipa.html/e2003/E2003.html