| Online Casinos Leader Gets Bad News
A leading online casino, which focuses on sports betting and horse racing is in the middle of a legal battle. According to reports, the week that past did not bring with it encouraging news. Germany's highest court has dismissed the complaint by the online casino group's subsidiary, in which it has spoken out against an online casinos gaming ban imposed by the state of Saxony-Anhalt two years ago. The online casinos company referred to a law which was passed in 1990 from Communist East Germany which permitted sports betting and horse racing in its submissions.
The director of the German Association of Sport Betting Companies, Rainier Nitzschke said that the online casinos subsidiary asked for the immediate ban to be eradicated. According to Nitzschke, "...Germany's Federal Constitutional Court rejected the complaint because the company didn't suffer a 'major disadvantage' as a result of the immediate ban, according to a statement published on the court's Web site today..." The ruling was widely seen as supporting the Saxony-Anhalt (one of 16 German states) protectionist monopoly. The online casinos group was also the subject of a similar ban by another German state.
The premiers of Germany's 16 states met recently to agree on new legislation to outlaw all online casinos gaming in spite of the inferences this may have regarding the European Commission's action in support of the freedom of cross-border services, which include online casinos. Any laws proposed by the states would have to be approved by the federal parliament, so hopes of a unanimous vote regarding this subject will remain for next year. Horses might continue racing, and gamblers may still continue betting.
| | |
|
