February 24, 2010 (CAP Newswire) – As European governments continue to redefine their Internet gambling laws, some recent trends show nations leaning towards favoring local-only businesses, in the process restricting international online gambling affiliate marketing brands.
In Denmark, the Parliament appears to be supporting the idea of agreeing with certain outside interests to liberalize the gambling market — but at the expense of blocking foreign gambling sites.
Some experts condemn the idea. “Usually it’s in China and Iran that is blocking people’s access to the Internet. I wonder whether we have taken the fundamental discussion of whether these are the methods we want in Denmark,” commented professor of European law Søren Friis Hansen according to digital civil rights website EDRI.org.
Meanwhile, France continues to struggle with whether or not to allow foreign operators into its new online gambling plans. Although the country’s lawmakers last year approved a plan to ease the online gambling restrictions, it’s still uncertain whether or not outside brands will be allowed in.
Some French gambling companies have come together to take legal action against outside online operators, most notably bwin, and the French Senate Commission recently introduced an amendment to give certain administrators the power to filter out gambling sites.
Even if adopted, that amendment still has more hurdles to hop before it becomes law. And, likewise, the online gambling legal case could go either way. Still, all this points to the fact that many powerful figures in the French gambling world hope to keep foreign operators out. That would be a big blow to nearby international gambling brands like bwin and Sportingbet — two of the companies being sued in the court action described above.