GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 9 - June 2009

68 Futureofonlinegambling in Europe isvulnerable NEWSANALYSIS ByVinNarayanan S tates’ rights. Whether you’re in Eu- rope or the United States, most politicians viewgamblingas a states’ rights issues. In the U.S., that means the prevailing political culture is that it is up to the individual state todetermine if gam- bling -- online and otherwise -- is legal in their state. InEurope, itmeans theprevail- ing political culture is that it is up to indi- vidual nationswithin the EuropeanUnion todeterminewhethergambling is legal. Nowmany of you are no doubt wonder- ing if the prevailing political culture in Europe is“states’ rights”when it comes to onlinegambling,whyhas themediabeen so busy reporting that the EU is pro onlinegambling? Becausethemedia iswrong.TheEuro- peanUnion isn’t proonlinegambling. The European Commission is. And that’sasignificantdifference. In March, the European Parliament voted 544-36 (with 66 abstentions) that member states have the right to control online gambling and sports betting as they see fit. The European Parliament is the only body of theEU directly elected by citizens of the EU memberstates(withelectionsonceev- eryfiveyears).Asaresult, it’s thebody of theEU thatmost accurately reflects the views of EU citizens -- and their politicians. The Dutch recently ordered domestic banks to terminateall relationshipswith In- ternetgamblingoperatorsbecausetheNeth- erlands does not license Internet gambling companies. And Finland, which already prohibits all operatorsnot namedVeikkas - -which isownedbytheFinnishgovernment -- from offering their services, is exploring thepossibilityof completelybanningadver- tisements foronlinegambling. Thefact is,despitethebesteffortsoftheEu- ropean Commission, nation states within theEUdon’tviewonlinegamblingasa free trade issue, but rather asa social issue that should be governed by states. And when you add in the vast revenue that state-run gambling monopolies generate, which for someinpoweristheprimaryreasontokeep online gambling out of their country, you get an environment wheremany countries don’t feel compelled toopen theirmarkets toallonlinegaminoperators,even ifthey’re licensed inaresponsible jurisdiction. WhileEUmember states fight tomaintain control over their markets, the European Commission is leading the charge to create asinglemarket foronlinegambling,both in Europeand throughout theworld. TheEC is the executive armof theEU and chargedwith turning thegoalsandphiloso- phies thatserveas the foundationof theEU into reality. And one of the premises that helped birth the EUwas the creation of a singlemarket forgoodsandservicesamong Europeannations. Within the EC, the group tasked with en- suring that the EU operates as a single market -- and there aremanymarkets in- dividual countrieswould like toprotect -- is the InternalMarket andServicesDirector- ate General (DGMARKT). This group of dedicated free traders, led by European Commissioner CharlieMcCreevy, fights to create a level, singlemarket for everything from biomedical laboratories to online gambling. But despite the best efforts of McCreevy and theDGMARKT, the results in thefight tocreateasinglemarket foron- linegamblinghashadmixedsuccess. While the Netherlands and Finland have virtually ignored EC directives to open up theirmarkets, countries likeDenmark and Francehavetakenstepstoopenup.InApril, andunderpressure fromanEC lawsuit, the Danish government outlined regulations thatwouldopenupDenmark to foreignop- erators.AndDanskeSpil, thecompany that hadbenefitted from itsmonopoly status in Denmark, welcomed the change because their taxratewouldgodown. France, under pressure from the EC, will allow companies toapply forFrench Inter- netgambling licenses in2010.Onlinegam- blingoperatorshavebeenexplicitlytoldnot advertise inFranceuntil thenew regu- lations are in place. Andmanymajor operatorsarecooperating in thehopes that it will help expedite the licensing processonce itbegins. So what does this mixed bag of news mean for affiliates? It means that the futureof online gambling inEurope is by nomeans secure. And itmeans it’s uptowebmasterstobecomeactiveand protect their industry, just like every other industrydoes. Theonlinegambling industrycan’t rely on the EC to do all the hard work. It needs togoout andmake itsown luck. Thatmeansorganizingatlocallevelsen- suring your voice isheard. Thatmeans writing letters to elected leaders, mak- ing phone calls, attending rallies and voting. Thatmeans telling the EChow much you support their activities. And that means not voting for members of the EU Parliamentwhoarerunning forreelection. It is time for the industry to stand up and fight for itself. Fromoperators towebmas- ters, fromEurope toAustraliaandAmerica andeverypoint inbetween,wehave to take thisfightpersonallyandtake itseriously.So over the next few days, months and years, do you part.Make your voice heard. Fight foryour industry.Because ifyoudon’t,your countrymightbe thenextone to takeaway your livelihood. The fact is,despite thebesteffortsof the EuropeanCommission, nationstateswithin the EUdon’tviewonline gamblingasa free trade issue,but ratherasa social issue that should begovernedbystates. GPWA Times | News Analysis