Greeks Crack Down On Internet Gambling

Greek Government Cracks Down on Cyber Café Gaming

It seems that European governments’ attitudes to Internet gambling couldn’t be more polarised at the moment. While the British prepare for a complete liberalisation of licensing law, the Greek finance ministry got tough with cyber cafes this week, warning that any business permitting gaming on their premises could see its licence revoked. Government officials warned that cafes must have at least two clearly visible signs stating that: “Any gaming and any betting of any kind is prohibited” In addition, they added somewhat bafflingly, all computers must be on a ground floor, with no secluded areas and no second door other than a fire escape.

In September 2002, a court in Thessaloniki ruled that a law banning Internet cafe owners from letting their clients any online computer games, even online chess, was unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, the Danish Officials have written a letter of complaint to the Australian government about Centrebet taking bets from its citizens. ‘Following the principle of extra-territorial jurisdiction, Denmark considers it to be a criminal act if a foreign Internet gambling company deliberately targets Danish citizens over the Internet,’ said the Danish Minister of Taxation.