It is believed that the States of America corners the market when it comes to people attempting to shut down online poker and gaming. As we’ve seen, Australia is currently having its issues with the industry and now another country is sounding off on its ban regarding the game.
The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, Germany, has ruled that a ban on online casinos, poker and “scratch card” games that has been in place for several years is, under the German Constitution, acceptable and do not violate the nation’s treaties with the European Union. Those treaties basically allow for the free flow of services, merchandise, and other commercial commodities across the 26 “Member State” nations that comprise the EU. Online gaming is supposed to be one of those commodities that is governed by the treaties the countries have signed, but Germany has come under fire from the other nations because of their ban.
The Court made their decisions on two cases that were brought against the German government and, in both cases, the Court upheld the German government. The appeals submitted by anonymous “operators” in Malta and Gibraltar that had previously been allowed to offer their wares in Germany were denied in their efforts to regain entry into the country. The Court’s decision rested in their view that individual countries of the EU can enact legislation to protect their citizens. In the case of German law, the government’s efforts to protect children and “vulnerable people” who might not be able to control their gambling urges were the reasons for the ban.
The problem lies in that Germany’s gaming laws are a hodgepodge of differing pieces that do not seamlessly work with each other. For example, while there is a ban on online casino gaming, slots, “scratch cards” and poker, there are licenses available for sports betting and lottery sales. Although those two pieces of internet gaming are allowed, there have been no licenses issued by the German government for either arena.
Prior to 2012, the German online gaming market was one of the largest in the industry. Passage of the Interstate Treaty on Gambling in 2013, however, enacted the ban on internet gaming, poker, and other gambling options inside Germany. The EU immediately filed legal objections to the law, stating that it violated the treaty that Germany signed as a part of the EU to allow for free trade across the European continent and its Member States.
Since the German law took effect, however, the 16 states that comprise the country have been unable to come to an agreement on their implementation, which has delayed the law from taking effect. Thus, earlier this year, the German government, after contentious fights with the EU, rewrote part of their gaming laws and tried to assuage the fears of EU officials. Germany upped the number of potential licensees that could apply for licenses in the country to 40, but that move hasn’t soothed either the EU nor their own politicians inside the country.
European gaming law has its own convoluted history. Prior to the start of the 21st century, online gaming was a freewheeling activity, partially due to the gambling history of Europe and the numerous gaming houses (Ladbrokes, William Hill, etc.). In 2005, the United Kingdom enacted the first online gaming laws, but they were permissive and didn’t call for any segment of the industry – poker, casinos, slots, bingo, or other games – to be banned. It did, however, put in excellent protections for their citizens and strong oversight of the online gaming industry in the country.
Following the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 in the U. S., other countries began to look at isolating their own countries. In part to bring in more revenues for the government and in part to protect their own citizens, many countries across Europe began to “ring-fence” their countries. By enacting laws that prevented their citizens from playing on international sites, these countries were able to force gaming providers to create “nation specific” websites that people only from that nation could play on.
France, Italy, Spain, and other countries took this approach to gaming as the Aughts closed, but they soon learned that they didn’t have the “liquidity” (AKA player numbers) for some countries to be able to subsist on just their citizens alone. Thus, earlier this year, France, Italy, Spain, and the EU all joined in a compact to share players between each other. That compact didn’t include Germany due to the ban that was in place.
What the future holds for Germany is quite cloudy. Legislators in the nation have stated they would like to pass laws that would allow for their countrymen to partake in online gaming offerings and have those laws be acceptable to the EU, but there is currently no legislation to do that. For now, if Germans are to play online poker, they’ll have to leave the Fatherland to be able to do it.
