N
EWS BULLETIN
•
Taito vs. Red Baron has taken a new twist in the
continuing controversy surrounding the case. Red
Baron had emerged the victor w hen the First District
Court sided against To ito and ruled that Red Baron had
not infringed on Taite's copyright holdings by buying
and installing parallel boards. Taito appealed tha t
decision, and it has emerged the w inner in this latest
round in the Fourth District Court of Appeals. In a
14-page unanimous decision issued July 18, the judges
ruled that it is perfectly within the law to import and
sell the boards. However, the clincher is that it is not legal
to use the boards for public performance. While it is
highly unlikely that immediate efforts w ill be made to
collar individual operators for using the parallel boards,
until Red Baron wins in the Supreme Court, it w ill be
illegal to operate the controversial. parallel boards.
• On July 3. the Florida Department o f Business
Regulation/Dept. of Alcoho lic Beverages issued its
long-awaited final guidelines for the legal operation
of cranes in licensed facilities, i.e., businesses in w hich
alcoholic beverages are sold. In our July "News Bulletin,"
we listed the 14 preliminary situations that would
constitute a violation of Florida gambling laws. These
have been adopted in the final guidelines. with one
change: the crane will be illegal if the prizes within it
are worth more than $6 wholesale or 15 times the cost
of a single play, not to exceed $15. Therefore. any cranes
that do not have these negative features would not
be confiscated by the department. nor would the
licensee be considered in violation of Florida gambling
laws. Also. penny-fall /coin pusher/bulldozer machines
have been termed "strictly games of chance" and are
illegal; they will be seized if found in a licensed location.
Those housed in unlicensed locations will "most likely
be determined on a case-by-case basis by the various
States Attorney offices in Florida," according to FAVA
attorney Marie Mattox.
• The Louisiana Amusement and Music Operators
Association (LAMOA) prevailed in the state legislature
on June 27. succeeding in its fi g ht to lower
occupational license fees. The bill, which easily passed
through both houses of the legisla ture before being
signed by Gov. Buddy Roemer. set a $20 fee on
jukeboxes, pool tables. foosball and the like. A fee "not
to exceed $50" was p laced on videos and pins. "We
finally got a positive a ttitude from legislators t hat we're
businessmen who need their help to stay in business,"
said Christ Kanellakis. LAMOA president. "The previous
fees were way to high; they presented a burden to
operators in Louisiana. This is certa inly a victory for the
association and operators throughout the state."
• Operators in New York City are hoping to dodge
a potential bullet from the c ity counc il, i.e., an increase
in the Coin Operators Amusement Device (COAD) tax
from the present $25 per machine to a staggering $175.
Before the June 30th c losing of the regular session in
Albany. the state legisla ture passed a n enabling act
that g ives the council permission to ra ise the tax.
AMOA-NY president Bobby Herman and other asso-
ciation members met in mid-July with the council's
finance committee. "We're trying to show them that
the proposed tax increase is very unfair," he said. "There
have been communication p roblems in the past, but
that's improved as of late. We made our arguments to
them. They realize that we in this industry are not such
bad guys. I think they're aware that a $175 tax on
machines would cause a lot of marginal locations to
be lost. I'm confident we'll be able to work out an
arrangement that's more realistic and more fair."
Herman, who had previously served as AMOA-NY vice
president, became president after the untimely death
of Nat Ury on April 30. The new vice president is former
treasurer Ralph Ceraldi; his post was filled by Frank
Calland. Peter Horowitz and Scott Tartaglia remain
sergeant-in-arms and secretary, respectively.
•
Gamco International Inc has acquired Florida's
Showcase Inc.. manufacturers of c ranes. rotaries.
novelties, and redemption equipment. Gamco will
retain Ronald Yaffe as director of sales and marketing;
Russ Bailey has beel") appointed director of engineer-
ing. The Florida operation will be expanded to include
foreign distribution networks. Gamco is presently
exporting games to Mexico. Canada, and the Asian
market. It's p roduct line includes cranes, toy vendors,
Crown Jewels rotary merchandisers. Quicksilver II coin
pushers, and the brand-new Action Lotto. The line of
redemption games w ill continue to be expanded.
"Quality and product reliability are the key ingredients
required for successful export sales." Bailey said. "Our
games are fully-engineered and field tested prior to
market introduction." Gamco w ill maintain the sales
and manufacturing facilities at 2153 Tenth St., Sarasota,
FL 34237; the telephone numbers are (800) 642-7263
or (813) 366-1133.
• Pizza Properties Inc., the largest franchisee for
Peter Piper Pizza. will serve as the national sponsor and
coordinator of " National Video Game Week" on Aug.
6-12. Peter Piper Pizza restaurants will be conducting
video game tournaments during this span to create
excitement for customers. V ideo games will be
awarded as grand p rizes, w ith local radio stations
helping to promote the details of the tournaments. "Not
only does Nationa l Video Game Week give
recognition to manufacturers. vendors, and retailers in
the video game industry, but also to the individuals who
enjoy playing the video games," said Joe Pedersen.
executive vice president of Pizza Properties Inc. "Video
games are a vital part of our business. Each Peter Piper
Pizza will have from 17 to 60 video games. depending
on the restaurant's square footage." For more
informa tion, contact Deanna Heins a t Peter Piper Pizza,
(915) 544-8565.
•
Rowe International has been purchased by
Page Mill Holdings, a company established 15 years ago
by Mic hael A. Gibbs. president. Its largest current
holding is Aqua-Fob Industries. Page Mill w ill be the
owner o f both Rowe and Aqua-Fob. with individual
managemen t ownership and autonomous
management of each separate company. Gibbs and
Bruce K. Cowles will be officers of the board as well as
partners of Page Mill Holdings, and will work together
to build each company. The move looks to be very
positive for Rowe's manufacturing and distributing
divisions.