LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Pretty subjective entries, I would opine - it would be interesting to know who submitted the Wikipedia piece for example, which perhaps needs more balance and a full reference to the facts - and the outcomes.
What most people unfortunately do not understand (or choose not to believe because they are so consumed by the initial funding) is that those same competing companies isolated themselves from the operational conduct of the organisation by introducing an independent board of experienced outside business people - and I'll cut 'n paste from the eCOGRA release on these guys for your convenience:
"These directors are Bill Galston, OBE, retired Chief Inspector for the Gaming Board of Great Britain; Bill Henbrey, former head of gaming services at leading international accounting firm BDO; Frank Catania, former Assistant Attorney General and Director of New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and Michael Hirst, OBE, a former board member of Ladbroke Group Plc, and formerly Chairman and CEO of Hilton International."
These are hardly corrupt or docile men and have proved that they have minds of their own as well as industry, business and legal savvy.
In addition to these, but not involved in operational matters, each of the original funding companies has one seat on the full board which meets I think twice a year (that's where John Anderson's seat comes in - he was CEO of Virtual Holdings at the time and for all I know has been replaced by his successor Gigi Levy) MGS has one and Ongame has one - a total of 3 against the independent 4.
This enables the independent directors who are actually calling the shots to have direct access at all times to senior and knowledgeable executives in the companies which power the eCOGRA seal operators, but does not interfere with their responsibility for the overall running of the organisation and the compliance of operators (who voluntarily commit to the seal system at some expense in terms of time and staff involvement - not annual payments.)
The CEO and his London-based staff reports to the independent directors on all day-to-day operational issues. This is all information available on the website.
I waffled on about actions and perceptions earlier on, and I will freely concede that there have been a few errors of judgement, against which I railed along with others on the message boards. These errors are continuously regurgitated to discredit eCOGRA, conveniently forgetting that Beveridge as CEO has always been prepared to hear an appeal and is not shy to reverse a decision if he believes originally it was wrong.
Apparently forgotten, too are the hundreds of cases over the past five years where players have been assisted, not to mention other significant initiatives in which eCOGRA has become involved in the field of standards, testing and monitoring, responsible gambling codes and training and introducing best business practices.
For me, an indicator that this outfit does have a level of player credibility is the fact that players go there with disputes, or are sent there by experienced players.
And distinct from most other outfits, their complaints are openly acknowledged and generally receive prompt and courteous attention - in days rather than weeks or months.
Leading on from that is another indicator of generally fair dealing for the player - the stats put out periodically by the FGA in open regular reports on the complaints she has handled against seal casinos. There aren't too many organisations that do that, either.
Around about the middle of last year was the last one I can recall, and if memory serves me correctly over half the complaints were decided for the player, and the overall average number of complaints per seal casino per month was less than one half of one percent.
By any reckoning that's a pretty good record for 120 operational units that are amongst the best established and busiest on the Internet, carrying out millions of transactions daily for tens of thousands of players.
<sigh> I promised myself that I was not going to again get involved in these time consuming and long-winded attempts to offer an alternative perspective on eCOGRA to often poorly-informed criticism.
Unfortunately, I can't just sit back and watch an organisation that is actually trying to help the player community slagged off every time it is mentioned, with scant recognition for its contributions to a better and hopefully more player-sensitive industry.
There are always going to be contentious issues and some where the truth is manipulated on the player as well as operator side. There will undoubtedly also be occasions in the future where there is disagreement on decisions, and that's a good thing that keeps everyone on their toes if it is debated intelligently and publicised. It is also a truism that the bad usually gets more mileage and attention than the good.
But it's important - and only fair - to recognise the good too; the many cases where a fair result is brokered for the player or diplomatic pressure applied without fanfare or credit (the 'Meister will have experience of that LOL!) Or improvements in safety and fairness.
On balance I personally believe eCOGRA is doing a lot more good than harm, and I'm prepared to say so - not always a popular move when a good old slagging fest is going on, LOL!
But as much as most of us would like to see an all-powerful, totally externalised regulator/s for online gambling, that is not presently a force in the industry, so other moderating influences are needed.
ECOGRA is not a government appointed agency with massive budgets and unlimited power to take businesses down overnight (and yes, eCOGRA is a registered non-profit organisation, Gary!)
But it is nevertheless improving many aspects of online gambling that impact on players, and that needs to be at the very least acknowledged.
When I see some of the derogatory remarks made in this and other threads (example: "eCOGRA is a puppet of Microgaming") I wonder how difficult it must be for those people in London to remain motivated and determined.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Casino Action
Bookmarks