Italy Bans Online Gaming
Ongoing action continues in The United States for a ban on internet
gaming action, but the first steps to remove the popular past time for
real have occurred in Italy. The Italian government has made it illegal
for any Italian Internet service provider to allow connection to an
offshore gaming area. The Italian Ministry of Economics and Finance has
deemed over 600 online sites as running gaming operations. The law went
into effect on February 24th, and could be a precedent for other nations
in Europe.
This action might be the result of recent actions by the European Union
which have separated online gaming from its Service Directive. The
directive dictates areas of trade that are covered by all agreements
between EU member nations. It did cover the area of online gaming, but
once removed the industry has been open to attack.
Many members of the European gaming community have been angered by this
turn of events. The Remote Gambling Association says that the Italian
legislation violates the free trade agreement of the nations of the EU.
The RGA has commenced action to counteract the move by the Italian
government.
“All remote gambling operators in the RGA are licensed for gambling
purposes within the European Economic Area. They adhere to the high
standards of regulation and social responsibility. The re is no
legitimate reason why they should not be allowed to provide their
services to Italian residents,” stated Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive
of the Remote Gambling Associaton.
The European Union does have laws and free trade agreements prohibiting
individual governments from enacting laws that infringe on foreign
competition, but it does allow nations to create laws if they are based
on a moral reasoning. The RGA, created in August 2005 and representing
the interests of several gaming operators, is arguing that the Italian
Finance Act is preventing Italians form accessing foreign competition
and has asked for the legislation’s reversal by the EU. With the removal
of online gaming from the EU Services Directive, a positive result for
Italian online gamers and the RGA is in doubt.
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