While certainly the first hurdle online gambling must overcome is whether or not to be legal in a country. Several countries, including the United States of America, have outright bans on online casino and gambling activities. Ideas regarding online gambling are being debated in legislatures at both the state and federal level. However, the biggest argument is not whether or not to allow online gambling, but how. There are many debates and legal proceedings taking place in Europe on the legality of state run gambling monopolies. Many European countries, including some European Union member nations, only support gambling that is sanctioned and run by the state. They keep tight control on who is allowed to operate and even advertise.
The gambling monopoly issue has seen stern arguments from groups like Right2Bet and the European Gambling and Betting Association. The issue has even made its way to the European Union Court of Justice. The high court reiterated its point this month that European Union Member nations had the right to ban online gambling. This was seen as a major setback for those groups who feel that Europeans should have the right to choose to gambling online or not. The court ruled that national bans were acceptable where religious, moral or cultural grounds were considered.
This was in direct response to a Swedish case involving two newspaper men and the government. Obviously, Sweden is one of the countries that support state run gambling monopolies. The government fined two men 50,000 Swedish Crowns each after they were deemed to be breaking national lottery law. The offense was running an advertisements for an online gambling company for a foreign bookmaker. The two men to the case to Swedish court and it was then sent to the European Union Court of Justice. The ruling was that the Swedish government had the right to reject foreign online gambling companies, but insisted that penalties must not discriminate. This, surely, will not be the end of the dispute over online gambling in Europe.
