The people at WWS sent me this. I'm posting it FYI.

Webmaster
------------------------


<b>Worldwide Support, Ltd. Announces Unveiling of Player Protection Program</b>

October 7, 2002 - In an attempt to stand behind the integrity of the gaming operators that have licensed software through the company, Worldwide Support, Ltd., the exclusive licensor of the FutureBet gaming system, is pleased to announce the implementation of its player protection program.

The program, which is truly an industry first, provides customers of any certified Worldwide Support licensee with the peace of mind that Worldwide Support ( [www.worldwidesupport.com] ) provides from a protection policy on each player account. Of course, this program supplements the ongoing commitment of the licensee itself to provide each customer with a dependable, financial environment. However, in the event that the gaming operator elected to close its business, for whatever reason, Worldwide Support would ensure that every customer of that operator is paid the particular amount owed to them (up to a maximum of $5,000 USD).

While the company does not automatically assign a “certified” status to each licensee, operators covered by the protection program will each be validated with a Worldwide Support “PPP” (Player Protection Program) icon on the bottom of their website’s main page (additional confirmation can be provided via the below email address). The company's goal is to certify every licensee as the process provides for a system of checks and balances between licensor and licensee that was not previously in place. One such example of this system is the ability for Worldwide Support to restrict a certified licensee from offering player bonuses deemed to be excessive.

While most gaming software providers, such as Worldwide Support, are not gaming operators themselves, the applications and products that they license serve as the foundation of the gaming operations of those who utilize such software. As such management is hopeful that the player protection program, which took effect October 1st, 2002, will become a trend-setting idea among software providers within the online gaming industry.

For more information on Worldwide Support, Ltd. or the company’s player protection program, please contact service@worldwidesupport.com.

If they had implemented this policy through their own initiative it would have had more credibility. The influx of bad press led them to issue this policy for damage control more than anything else. The licensees are the ones paying for the insurance, anyway, so it's no money out of Futurebet's pockets. How many licensees are actually going to purchase the insurance? Big money players certainly won't like the $5,000 protection limit. Finally, this does nothing to address the fact that Futurebet still owes a significant amount of money to past licensees that it refuse to pay. This is just a bunch of hot air about nothing. I don't think very many people are going to be impressed by this.

For those of you interested in following this story, Future Bet responded to the recent editorial at Game Master and demanded a retraction, an apology, and a removal of the editorial. All they got for their efforts was their "insurance plan" being questioned as well as their motivations, plus more bad publicity. Here's the link:

[www.gamemasteronline.com]