Full Tilt Report: Fees paid, Canada license renewed, employees fired

In the ongoing saga of whether or not the Full Tilt Poker brand will live or die, some reports have surfaced that may represent the first (somewhat) good news the company has had in four months.
Rumors fly: U.S. staff fired
But first, the bad news. Unconfirmed reports (rumors, even) are rampant that Full Tilt has dismissed its United States-based employees.
WickedChopsPoker is reporting these layoffs based on “multiple sources”, adding that “Tilt is paying in full all laid off employees for time served from April through now.”
“One employee who amazingly still has a job is Federally indicted CEO Ray Bitar,” the report continues, contributing that fact to the support of poker pro Howard Lederer, who “at least played a part in blocking Bitar’s ouster. By all accounts, Lederer is fiercely loyal to Bitar, and in general, loyalty (as evidenced by Tilt paying their U.S.-based employees) is paramount over all at Tilt.”
Kahnawake license renewed
And now, on to better news. Last week, it was reported that the site had its Kahnawake license successfully renewed. Or, more specifically, the site “has secured a renewal of its Secondary Client Provider Authorization (CPA) for its Kolyma company in the jurisdiction of Kahnawake,” per EGR.
The license renewal is slated to last for two years, although the Canada-based Kahnawake Gaming Commission clarified that it would be “closely monitoring the proceedings being conducted by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC)”.
AGCC update
Speaking of those proceedings: After the AGCC delayed issuing any decisions on Full Tilt until September, it’s been reported that the brand has paid almost half a million dollars in owed fees.
Just days ago, news broke that some $410,000 (or £250,000) in overdue license fees was paid to the AGCC by Tilt.
“The recent payment of overdue licence fees by FTP is also in players’ best interests since it allows commercial negotiations to take place that might result in a successful refinancing deal,” the AGCC has noted.
That doesn’t change the fact that the license for Full Tilt Poker’s website remain suspended, but it does ease the strain on the company a bit as it looks (still unsuccessfully) for buyers who can help potentially turn the brand around.
Prior to the Black Friday shutdowns in the U.S. on April 15, 2011, and the subsequent suspension of Full Tilt’s license in late June, the site was the second-largest online poker site in the world in terms of player traffic.