Gibraltar-based, Austrian online gambling provider bwin joined forces with La Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (Portuguese Professional Football League [LPFP]) recently to bring a legal suit to the European Court of Justice against Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, who currently operate the only state sanctioned online and offline betting facilities in Portugal.
Bwin and the LPFP brought the case to the ECJ in response to the Portuguese government’s attempts to prosecute and fine both parties for “offering and advertising “games of chance” on the internet”. Had the case have been successful, it would have forced an opening up of the online gambling industry accross Europe, with an end result of preventing state governments from operating a monopoly in the online gambling industry. Unfortunately for bwin and the rest of the online gaming industry however, the response of the European Union’s on Tuesday 8 September 2009 didn’t further the cause of the online gambling industry. In a rather non-commital ruling, the European Court of Justice stated that “a member state could be allowed to ban gambling websites if its intention was to stop crime”.
Please see online pokies club website for an in depth analysis of the case and what the ruling means for the future of the online gaming industry within Europe.
This entry was written by Nena on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 3:14 am and is filed under News.
