The British Parliament is reviewing a proposal by the Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) James Purnell to ban gambling enterprises based outside the European Economic Area from advertising in the UK. According to a Register article, this would include companies such as “William Hill Casino, Betfred Casino, and Littlewoodscasino.com”.

The register goes on to state “The ban will apply to all forms of gambling advertising including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, taxis, buses, the tube, and some websites. If operators, publishers, broadcasters, and advertising companies accept adverts they could face fines or prison, said the DCMS.”

Luckily there are alternatives if you’re based outside the European Economic Area. Countries can apply to be “white listed” or excluded from the advertising regulations. The idea here is that countries who feel their gambling laws are consistent with those within the UK can request an exemption.

The furor over the iPhone has been driving shares of Apple (APPL) through the roof since the launch of the popular new phone / browser / email client / iPod. Shares of AAPL were up to as high as $132.58 on July 5th up from a high in June of only $125.09. That’s nearly a 6% rise in under a month.

Apple has had it’s fair share of headaches around the iPhone including DVD Jon hacking the iPhone for use on other mobile networks (all be it limited use) and a consumer advocacy group blasting Apple for its battery replacement program.

UK poker site VCPoker.com has recently gotten in a bit of trouble with Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for running ads which insinuated that playing poker can lead to success in the bedroom.

As reported by The Register “A complaint was levied at betting house Victor Chandler, which ran a VCPoker.com campaign featuring a scantily clad young lady with the strapline: “You love sex. She loves sex. You love money. She loves money. You have money. She loves you.”

The complaint filed with ASA alleged that the ad campaign “linked gambling with financial and sexual success”; however, an article by Gaming Intelligence Group claims “Victor Chandler said they believed the ad complied with the CAP Code and did not encourage excessive gambling.”

Government officials in Hong Kong have recently enacted tough new anti-spam legislation. According to a Yahoo News article the new law will “regulate all messages sent by electronic means that advertise or promote goods or services, including faxes, emails, SMS text and pre-recorded voice messages”.

Penalties for violating the new anti-spam legislation include fines up to $128,000 and jail time for up to 5 years. This new legislation does not address mainland China specifically; however, it does seem to be an evolution of September 2006 legislation in China concerning email data retention.

In addition to enacting legislation addressing spam, China has also recently been trying to take legal and enforcement measures to address rampant copyright infringement within their borders. All of these efforts are an attempt to foster growth in their surging market economy by improving transparency within the normally closed communist nation.