Germany Having Trouble Enforcing Online Casino Ban

December 31, 2009 | News Category: Gaming Law

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Germany has attempted to have an online casino ban, which has been largely ignored by many of its citizens. Although Germany’s lawmakers had hoped that the online casino ban would be effective, a recent study of German gambling habits have shown that the number of online casino patrons is still very high.

In fact, the study shows, more than two million German citizens are still playing and betting at online gambling sites. Some German states have already stated that they intend to discard the online gambling ban as soon as they are able to. The treaty that enforces the online gambling ban expires in 2011, at which time these states have no intention of allowing the ban to continue.

In Schleswig-Holstein, leaders have stated that although they would prefer to withdraw the form State Treaty on Gaming immediately, they will not do so. The Prime Minister of the state has said that the region will honor the treaty until it expires, although clearly, will not be prepared to extend the ban after 2011.

Those who oppose the treaty note that it is likely that more revenue would be generated by having an open, and regulated, gambling market, rather than by holding on to a protected monopoly.

Experts from the gambling industry have said that the online casino ban should be lifted, since it has not proved effective protection against the soccer gambling scandals that have been going on around the country. They say that it is more likely that effective protection can only be achieved through regulating the industry.

In the study performed by the Association of Information Technology, Telecommunications, and New Media, it was shown that the most popular form of online gambling is wagering on the lottery. After that, the most popular forms of online gambling were casino and poker gambling, which were about equal to that of sports betting.

Not only are those inside Germany displeased with the German online gambling policy, the European Commission has tried to get Germany to fall in line with the guidelines as laid out by the European Union. EU rules call for open markets for online casino gambling, and other services. Although it is possible to maintain gambling monopolies by claiming that it is to protect the public, and in their best interests, Germany cannot use that claim to defend their position any longer. Since Germany has been unable to show that the ban is especially effective in protecting the public, this could lead to charges of infringement of the guidelines as laid out by the European Union.