The integrity of the eCOGRA seal is principally dependent on
the following process :
An exhaustive and detailed schedule of requirements
encompassing all areas of online gaming relating to fair gaming practices are
incorporated into eGAP. Each practice and its related objective, is summarised
as follows :
PLAYER PROTECTION
01 PAYMENT TO AND RECEIPTS FROM PLAYERS
Payment requests / receipts shall be efficiently and promptly
attended to and payments / receipts shall be completely and accurately
processed.
02 MINIMUM INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS
Seal holders shall be required to adequately record certain
minimum information relating to player and game activity.
03 MINIMUM SECURITY REQUIREMENTS
Information security policies and procedures shall be
implemented and maintained to ensure the availability, integrity and
confidentiality of gaming operations.
04 RESPONSIBLE GAMING
A responsible gaming environment that actively discourages
problematic gambling shall be established, enforced and monitored.
05 PLAYER AND GAME FUNDS
Player balances and game funds shall be sufficiently covered
by on demand funds.
06 PLAYER INFORMATION
Player accounts shall be managed and accounted for in a
secure, safe and efficient environment. The privacy and confidentiality of all
player information submitted at any point in time shall be protected from
unauthorised disclosure.
FAIR GAMING
07 SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE
Software shall be developed, implemented and maintained in a
manner representative of best practice standards.
08 TOTAL GAMING TRANSACTION REVIEW
Games shall be random, independent and fair.
09 SERVER CONNECTIVITY REQUIREMENTS
Minimum game server connectivity requirements shall be met to
ensure that players are protected from losses due to connectivity problems.
10 GENERAL GAME CHARACTERISTICS
Seal holders shall adhere to game characteristics that ensure
a fair game for a player.
11 DISASTER RECOVERY
eCOGRA seal holders shall be able to demonstrate that they
can recover from a system disaster.
12 SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONS
Both the player and eCOGRA's seal holders shall be protected
from system and hardware malfunctions.
RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT
13 ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING
Preventative and detective controls addressing
money-laundering and fraud risks shall be documented and implemented according
to the relevant points in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines.
14 RESPONSIBLE ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONS
The seal holder will ensure that players are not mislead
through advertising or promotional activities, and will ensure that the terms
and conditions of their promotions are followed.
15 PROBITY CHECKS
All key individuals and entities involved with members and
operators should be credible and not have criminal records.
THE REVIEW OF SYSTEM SOFTWARE
The gaming software is clearly one of the key areas that must
be addressed in assessing eCOGRA member and operator eGAP compliance. To meet
this objective eCOGRA has developed a highly comprehensive and practical system
testing methodology.
eCOGRA advocates an 'outcome-based verification' approach
that deviates substantially from the commonly adopted testing of source code
which has traditionally been used in the land-based gaming environment (and
which has been commonly adopted in the online environment due to a lack of
understanding and a better alternative method). In addition to providing a high
degree of assurance that the relevant requirements are achieving compliance,
this process may be undertaken with minimal disruption to the software provider
and operator business activities.
The outcome-based verification process involves a thorough
analysis of every transaction for every game by an independent and trusted third
party. This is done by a respected international accounting firm which has been
elected to the Audit Panel. This form of review is ongoing, is based on actual
transactions and actual game play irrespective of volumes, and can be applied
during ongoing system changes and development. Analytical and statistical review
ensures the data output is within an acceptable range. This approach also allows
for the full investigation of specific queries related to the game play.
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