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Online Blackjack News - Gambling In France Made Legal
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In a major blow to the existent French gambling law, the French Supreme court has ruled recently that the French horse racing monopolist Parimutuel Urbain (PMU) cannot prevent Malta-based ZeTurf from offering wagers over the internet on French horse races.
This ruling by the French High Court marks the final stage of a case that has a had a long and challenging existence. It all began in 2005 when the founder of ZeTurf fled to Malta following investigation of the company by the French Government. On 8 July, 2005, the Paris Court of First Instance ruled that it was illegal for ZeTurf to accept bets from French citizens over the internet, in violation of the monopoly granted to PMU by the French government.
ZeTurf appealed, and lost again in the appellate in 2006. Although that could have been the end of it, by that time ZeTurf had moved its operation to Malta, so that collecting or enforcing any sort of judgment was a moot question. PMU pursued the company to Malta, but there case was thrown out of court due to jurisdiction issue. The Maltese Government wanted no part in the affair, noting that it could not have any jurisdiction over a French monopoly.
France has been one of the most outspoken countries in the European Union against online gaming. The court said that its decision was based on the fact that countries that operate a government monopoly under the rationale that an extremely tightly regulated gambling industry is necessary to protect gamblers from themselves, cannot out of the other sides of their mouths promote the monopoly as a government revenue stream, which they all do.
France has arrested gaming executives, clamped down advertising campaigns and has otherwise been effectively harassing the industry in order to protect its monopoly of online gaming. All the policies will have to be re-evaluated as the court could find no consistent or proportionate relation between the policy's stated objectives and gaming policy as enacted.
France and Germany have been two of the stalwarts holding out against the online gambling industry, and for France to fold bodes well for the EU online gaming industry in general. There is definitely momentum in the EU toward a liberalization of gaming regulations, and although the European Court of Justice has stated that there are circumstances in which a monopoly might be justified, the drift toward further harmonization is clear.
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| Source:
Blackjack2002 News Staff
| Monday, 16 July 2007 |
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