Online Casino

Despite the controversy raging over the hotly contested Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIEGA), a law that was passed in 2006 by the U.S. government, Norway has chosen to follow suit with a proposed online gambling ban of its own.

On Friday, news was released of a proposal passed by the government of Norway that attempts to ban such pursuits as online poker and other forms of online gambling for its citizens. The legislation was officially passed on the 4th of December. The proposed new law would make it a civil offence to aid and abet any operator not part of the state lottery in Norway. Still in its early stages, the proposal does not seek to enforce the new legislation until the middle of next year at the very earliest, which gives them time to craft and fine tune the regulations that will spell out the criteria for the new law.

Unsurprisingly, the Financial Services Association of Norway in addition to the Scandinavian country’s many other prominent financial institutions are totally opposed to these proposals and the passage of any such bill, in similar fashion to the opposition generated by the US forerunner, the UIEGA. The proposed online gambling ban will also include online transactions in an identical way to the UIEGA.

The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has already lodged a formal complaint with the European Surveillance Agency (ESA), which oversees the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in response to the proposed new law.

The Norwegian government justified the proposal by stating that the new law would help in the protection of problem gamblers. Reportedly, the European Commission is against the new law. On fact there is already speculation by one of the senior legal advisors in Norway that the bill may find itself being played out in the European Court of Justice.

Opponents of the proposed new legislation claim that such a ban on online gambling would benefit the country’s Norsk Tipping lottery, which is a state run monopoly. Norsk Tipping is owned by the Norwegian government (Stortinget) and is also administered by the powerful Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs. They offer the country’s residents a wide variety of sports, lottery and instant games and were originally opened for business back in 1948. Since then, Norsk Tipping have returned in excess of NOK 78 billion at today’s current value, to many charities and deserving associations throughout Norway.