EU governments close the doors on their gambling markets
Posted by Gavin Smith on 22 七月 2009 at 09:07
As the market has evolved, internet gaming has found there are many twists and turns to the top. The latest chapter in the industry's story comes in the shape of a spat brewing between a number of European countries, internet gaming operators, and lawmakers.
The Economist reports the European Union's single market principle, controlled by the European Commission, is under pressure by the way some states have decided to ban gaming over the internet.
The Economist report added a recent European parliament study discovered that seven of the union's 27 members have banned online gambling, and of the other 20 just 13 have liberalised their markets while others restrict online gaming to monopolies which are owned or licensed by the state.
The magazine's report highlights the case of the Netherlands, which is in the process of a high-profile clampdown on gaming firms. Residents of the country can only bet with state system De Lotto, and the government has already launched a campaign against internet operators which seems similar to the approach taken in America in 2006.
The Dutch government has said it was prepared to launch prosecutions against banks which transferred cash to Dutch nationals gambling on the sites of firms based abroad - mirroring the stance taken after 2006 in the US.
According to the Economist, other states are also turning a critical eye towards internet gaming. Germany has already launched an online ban and one of its states has told the British company and online specialist Betfair to block access to its residents, with a court ruling expected on whether or not this is legal.
Elsewhere Greek officials have also begun a clampdown on a British company called Stanleybet and official blocking moves are being considered or have already been passed by the likes of Hungary, Sweden and Estonia.
The Economist report also pointed out that many of the firms looking to clamp down on internet gaming say they are looking to protect the consumer, which seems to contradict the state-run gaming operations in the likes of Sweden and Holland.
Many have speculated that online gaming has got governments worried because it could pose a threat to the revenue they earn from their local operations. The Economist points out that in the Netherlands winnings are taxed at 29 per cent, whereas in Gibraltar, where a number of British companies pay their tax, the tax is just one per cent.
The Economist quoted Leighton Vaughan Williams of the Betting Research Unit at Nottingham Business School as saying: "The policy of many of the EU member states towards online gambling seems to be motivated more by protection of the public purse than by protection of the public,”
With profits from online gambling estimated to be worth about 3.5 billion Euros a year there is no surprise that the issue is a hot one at the moment. Economist adds the EU Commission has the view that countries can't shut their markets to gambling firms from elsewhere in the continent and some court rulings seem to back this view. The commission has also criticised a number of countries and threatened them with court action but this has apparently not stopped them from pursuing their anti-online gaming battles - who will end up walking away as the winner in this one is anyone's guess.
