September 30, 2010 (CAP News Wire) – European Internet betting and gambling brand bwin has scored a major legislative victory in the European Union that will allow it to continue doing business in Germany — a country with an increasingly hostile attitude to Internet gambling.
Earlier in September, the European Union’s highest court said that the rules of the German state monopoly on sports betting “are incompatible with EU law,” per Bloomberg News.
“Germany can’t block betting companies such as Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG from providing betting services while allowing public monopolies to ‘carry out intensive advertising campaigns’ to maximize lottery profits,” the report states, adding that shares in Bwin rose to their highest point in weeks following the ruling.
“We are delighted with today’s rulings,” Katharina Riedl, a spokeswoman for Vienna-based Bwin, told Bloomberg. “‘This is a historic opportunity to change German gambling regulation,’ following the examples of the U.K., France and Italy, she said.”
On a less optimistic note, bwin has also reportedly started blocking Canadian players from downloading its software.
“We regret to inform you that in light of the recent announcements by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Loto-Québec and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation regarding the launch of regulated online gaming products in Canada, our Download Casino vendor, GTECH G2, has decided to block Canadian Users from using their software,” company representatives stated.
“Only operators licensed by the Canadian authorities will be permitted to offer online gaming products to Canadian residents.”
According to RecentPoker.com, “ … software provider Boss Media in the GTechG2 group is responsible for the puzzling ban on Canadian players by several major internet gambling companies recently.”