Smart’s mobile games are illegal gambling, says DoJ

By Tetch Torres INQ7.net

THE Department of Justice (DoJ) has ruled that mobile phone giant Smart Communications, Inc. should be slapped with illegal gambling charges for its text messaging-based promotional games.
In its nine-page resolution, Justice Undersecretary Ernesto Pineda said the text-based games of “Game Ka Na Ba?” (Are You Game?), “Text to Millions” and “ImGame's True or False” were forms of illegal gambling.

Pineda dismissed the arguments raised by Smart president and chief executive officer Napoleon Nazareno that the mobile phone games are promotional activities and games of skills covered by a permit from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

"What appears to be the major controlling factor in selecting the winner…is not primarily based on the subscriber's skill or intelligence but on the element of chance that his electronically issued registration number will be the lucky combination to be generated by the computer during the raffle draw," Pineda said.

He added that the amount of two pesos or 2.50 pesos charged by Smart to mobile users joining “Text To Millions” and “ImGame”, and 10 pesos for those joining “Game Ka Na Ba?” was not meant to avail of a service or buy a product, but to place a bet.

The case stemmed from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation's (PAGCOR) appeal on the decision of the Manila Prosecutor's Office that dismissed the case against Smart.

Smart Communications officials declined to comment on the case until the company receives a copy of the resolution.