Bwin won a high stake lawsuit yesterday, 6 November 2007, when the Administrative Court of Appeal for the German state of Hessen decided to overturn a decision of a lower court that prohibited BWIN Interactive Entertainment AG’s German unit BWIN e.k. to offer its onling betting services in the state, taking into consideration the local gambling monopoly.
But the court of Appeal explained that “a ban on internet-based gaming as technically unfeasible, and thus regards the ban as essentially null and void.” This decision confirms the precedent from a Bavarian court presented by our blog in May 2007, contradicting the Bavarian Authorities that who decided that 3 companie could not accept wagers from the Bavarian users, since only the state-owned sports betting company is allowed to do that.
The decision actually makes sense in the online world and brings Germany closer to the European Court of Justice rulings.
The Europe’s trend is clear these days and a national decision to support its national monopoly against other EU -based operators is clearly seen as a breach of the freedom of services within EU. But if the trend gets stronger and EU pushes more for liberalization and increased transparency, it will certanly mean a much better position in an emerging market.
Combine this with the WTO demands against the US on this topic and we can see a big problem coming up between the two superpowers.
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