Online Gambling Ban Not Allowed

Germany and other European states are coming under fire from the European Commission as they attempt to keep online gambling from entering their countries. Several countries that allow online gambling, such as Britain and Austria have taken their cases to the EU saying that the bans do not allow them to operate within all of the states and therefore should not be allowed.

They say that there is a lack of professional freedom within the states with the ban, and they want the EU to remove those bans so that they can continue to do business. The EU has put forth a ruling that says the bans are illegal, and wants the countries currently enforcing them to remove them – and has given them a month to rewrite their charters accordingly.

The German states had a choice as to whether or not they would continue their monopoly but could not advertise it, or if they would open their doors to open competition. They chose to continue the monopoly and rewrote their charter. The charter now has a provision for gambling addiction, and restricts games of chance on offer. The charter says that they are seeking to “steer the natural gaming urges of the population along well-ordered and supervised paths.”

Games of chance will still be allowed by they are only permitted if they have been registered and organized by the federal state. It continues to say, however, that those games will not be on the internet as it is expressly prohibited. They have notified the EU as to their choice and now it is up to the EU as to where it goes from here. As they are still infringing on the rights of the other states, it is not known if this new charter will be accepted by the EU or not.

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