The Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) today announced that three additional online casinos have applied to participate in the Seal of Approval program (SoA), an IGC initiative designed to increase consumer confidence in interactive gambling.

The new participants are Captain Cooks Casino, Casino Kingdom and English Harbour. Captain Cooks and Casino Kingdom are licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and operated by Integrity Casinos Ltd. English Harbour, licensed in Antigua, is operated by EH New Ventures Inc.

The new applicants, upon approval as SoA members, will join the five original members of the SoA program - VIP Sports and VIP Soccer, operated by VIP Services and Casino Fortune, Mapau Casino and Miami Beach Casino, all operated by the Sunny Group.

All SoA agreements with the IGC require participant sites to provide fair and honest gambling environments and business practices and to implement player protection mechanisms. An important part of the program is to abide by the results of a formalized dispute resolution process, assuring players that an IGC representative will take an active role in mediating a problem between a player and a site.

"To date there have been no unsatisfied complaints against the original SoA members," said Keith Furlong, deputy director of the IGC. "It's logical that only the best sites, ones with conscientious customer service personnel, would subject themselves to this additional review and to the dispute resolution process."

The SoA agreement, which is subject to annual review, is the final step in the application process performed by the IGC and independent third-party experts on behalf of the IGC. When an SoA applicant is approved, its participating sites are permitted to display the Seal of Approval logo.

"Players should be especially reassured when they gamble at a site that displays the Seal of Approval," said Rick Smith, executive director of the IGC. "While we expect all members of the IGC to follow our Code of Conduct, SoA participants agree to abide by an even higher standard of self-compliance."

The SoA program requires interactive gaming companies to provide additional information about their management, key staff, licensing jurisdiction, financial procedures and gambling software. The SoA includes requirements pertaining to payout procedures, posting of game odds and rules, record keeping, responses to player inquiries, protection of player data, fraud control and advertising policies.

A key goal of the program is to promote the IGC's efforts to increase the credibility of responsible interactive gaming companies. For example, SoA sites must have the ability to block gambling by minors and by residents of particular jurisdictions. The sites must also be able and willing to block gambling by a player who has requested self-exclusion as a protection against problem gambling.

The IGC retains the right to monitor a SoA participant, and to withdraw the use of the SoA logo if there is a violation of the SoA rules. The SoA logo is downloaded to a site from the IGC Web site, providing an element of control for the IGC in the use of the logo.

To apply for the SoA, a gambling site must have been in operation for at least one year while a member of the IGC and must be licensed to operate lawfully in the jurisdiction in which it is based.

Throughout its six-year history, the IGC has advocated government licensing and rigorous regulation of online gambling.

"It is important to note that the Seal of Approval is by no means designed to be a replacement for strict government regulation," said Sue Schneider, chairman of the IGC. "Effective government regulation, in cooperation with the industry, is still the only way to move the Internet gambling industry to the next level of legitimacy."