Gambling Update - June 2010


European Court of Justice decides that Dutch gambling rules comply with EU Treaty

Today the European Court has published two judgments which conclude that EU Member States can restrict nationals from accessing the websites of gambling operators established and licensed outside of their territory in other Member States. Closely following the Bwin/Liga v Santa Casa judgment of last year, the European Court has again ruled that the EU principle of free movement of services does not apply automatically to the gambling sector and Member States are able to enforce rules which prevent licensed operators from offering their gambling services if such restrictions are objectively justified, non-discriminatory and proportionate.
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European News - Challenging times ahead for EU gambling operators?

In the articles below, we summarise some of the legal developments affecting the gambling sectors in other territories throughout Europe. Some countries are taking steps to implement legislation which will open their gambling markets to some commercial competition (Italy has been slowly opening its gambling markets over recent years while France is just beginning this process). Meanwhile other countries continue to debate how the gambling sector should be regulated in the future (including the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Finland).
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News from the US - Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act finally comes into force

With a target date of 2008 for implementation, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) finally came into effect in the USA on 1 June. UIGEA was originally approved back in 2006 but implementation was delayed because of protests from civil liberties groups and the vague nature of the legislative text. The UIGEA requires financial institutions to block transactions to and from online gambling websites and effectively enforces a ban on online gambling.
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