While bettors in the United States fume over anti-gambling legislation, not everything is rosy across the pond. Germany has ratified an accord unveiling new restrictions on Internet betting; those restrictions came into effect on New Year’s Day.

This state legislation (all of the country’s 16 states are on board) is the latest step in Germany’s attempt to entrench its monopoly over lotteries and other betting. Placing a wager on German soil, even with an offshore book, is once again illegal. So is any advertisement that tries to “directly invite, incite or prompt” customers to place a bet.

The European Union had previously asked Germany to reconsider its anti-gambling measures; now the European Court of Justice will almost certainly be brought into the legal fray, as online gambling operators have already sued to keep their businesses afloat. Like the U.S., Germany argues that its citizens need to be protected against the moral problems of gambling. The EU isn’t buying it.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 7th, 2008 at 3:19 pm and is filed under gambling news, Gambling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.