Bwin responds to ECJ judgement: EU law not kept pace with internet
Bwin has responded to today's European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgement against Bwin in the latest round of the Austrian bookmaker's battle against the Portugese state monopoly, arguing that online bookmakers are more able to prevent fraud than land-based ones and that EU law has failed to keep up with the progression of online businesses.
BWIN HAS responded to today’s European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgement against Bwin in the latest round of the Austrian bookmaker’s battle against the Portugese state monopoly, arguing that online bookmakers are more able to prevent fraud than land-based ones and that EU law has failed to keep up with the progression of online businesses.
As reported on EGRmagazine.com earlier, the ECJ, the European Union’s highest court, ruled that a Portuguese law giving state-run charity La Santa Casa da Misericordia (SCM) a monopoly on betting and lottery games is legal under EU law if the law is designed to combat fraud and other crimes.
EU rules ensure that companies can provide goods and services freely across EU borders, but the ECJ ruled that this right can be restricted if the public interest is at stake.
However a Bwin statement released this afternoon argued that “the Court overlooks the fact that respectable private providers such as Bwin are just as able to control gaming in the internet as state monopolies. Using an IT-based medium, higher security standards can be met to warrant customer protection and fraud control in particular”.
Bwin continued that the Code of Conduct for private online gaming providers developed by the European Gaming and Betting Association, of which Bwin is a member, “stipulates strict controls which, given the transparency of the internet, have proven more efficient than those of traditional brick-and-mortar gaming”, adding that “the European Sports Association, whose efforts also serve to prevent betting manipulation, has successfully been able to implement this”.
Bwin co-chief executive Manfred Bodner (pictured) argued that EU law has not kept pace with the growth of the internet, and that it would have to be updated to deal with cases such as the one in question.
Bodner said: “Online gaming has become a market reality. There is urgent need to develop a legal framework in tune with the times to warrant the interest of consumers, the state and operators. Court rulings will not be able to fill in for a regulation in the medium and long run.”
Co-chief executive Norbert Teufelberger added: “Only a regulated online gaming market with a diversified and attractive line-up of games will provide adequate security against the risks of a black market, which in fact not only opens up the floodgates to crime, but also passes up on consumer protection. This is why a growing number of EU member states, including Great Britain, Italy and France have reacted.”
The case is now being referred back to the Portugese legal system.
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