@gamblingguide 149795 wrote:
Sorry, but what hippo666 is saying is incorrect.
Online Gambling has always been considered illegal in Germany.
The state of Hessen is no exception.
What hippo is propably referring to is that the state of Hessen used to have the only legal online casino in Germany (Spielbank Wiesbaden). This casino is/was the only legal casino because it was licenced by the state and you could only play there if you reside in that state. I said was, because their website now says that the casino has been closed effective Dec 31st 07.
The new legislation prohibits any form of online gambling. That’s what’s new. That’s why even the only “legal” online casino in Hessen had to close shop. They are also putting the many online lottery sites (such as Tipp24.de) out of business.There is one exemption however, that is bWin. They bought a gambling license from the former eastern german government DDR and the courts have confirmed that this old license is still valid and they can offer online gambling under this license but only in the states of former east germany.
Quite confusing situation.
That’s an accurate summary of the legal landscape in Germany at this point in time. I can’t imagine though that Nellie Kroes, the commissioner for competition will allow the blocking of online gambling at the ISP level. It would also generate quite a few false positives unless they are working with a list.