Internet gambling in the world

Let's start with the states that have the biggest independence in this respect, the so-called "tax haven" - Malta and Gibraltar. Malta is a state where there is a complete freedom of gambling on the Internet. This is the first country to regulate the law on the Internet gambling (2000). The legislation in Malta and Gibraltar provides a license for casino games, sports betting, online games, online casino, poker, lotteries and other entertainments on the network.

Also we should mention a friendly tax system (0.5% tax), easy way to obtain the license, as well as a safe solution for players’ rights protection and anti-money laundering scheme – these are the reasons why more and more companies choose Malta and Gibraltar for their headquarters. Netherlands, Antilles, Bermuda, Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica also belong to the so-called "tax havens". More information about the tax havens you can find here...

A more complicated situation is observed in the states that have not adopted legislation regulating online gambling. These are France, Italy and Germany. Although gambling is legal in those countries, the government tries to limit the promotion of gambling. In the end they failed to change the law. The Italians were fighting hard, but were defeated in Placanica case at the Court of Justice. Italy accused Placanica (Italian operator of the famous British bookmaker Stanley) of organised gambling activities without the police permission. It should be pointed out that Stanley received this permission (license) outside Italy.

That is why Italy decided to impose a penalty for lack of implementation of all administrative formalities. The bookmaker did not fall back and appealed against the court's decision. The case was examined by the Court of Justice, which reached its verdict that the penalty imposed by the Italian Government on the activities of bookmakers acting on behalf of the foreign company contravenes the European law. Furthermore the Court’s judges presented a very important opinion. According to their view a state cannot use sanctions in the situations where the process of license obtaining is impossible or complicated by another country (Italy).

It seems that the Czech Republic and Great Britain have the best conditions for online players. Betting is immensely popular, especially on the British Isles, where it is difficult to imagine a big city without a betting shop, let alone Internet gambling. Although the Czech Republic is not among the major European Union countries but we can see that the profit of companies engaged in e-gambling is growing regularly. In England the law is on the side of gambling, which is associated with many organisations controlling this industry. This regulation increases the love of the British people for gambling. £50 million spent on betting in 2010 prove the popularity of e-gambling on the islands; it is the best argument which shows state’s friendly attitude to all types of gambling.

It seems that Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, and, strange as it may seem, the United States provide the most difficult conditions for the promotion of gambling. In America, gambling is prohibited by Congress law as of 2006 "about the safety and responsibility for each law", which was based on the law prohibiting gambling on the Internet in 1999. It should be noted that e-gambling became illegal long before the era of the Internet. The ban originated from the Wire Act, which was adopted 45 years ago. The U.S. government had a lot of problems with the law observance, since the casinos and bookmakers were registered abroad and ran their business from abroad. After the nationwide opinion polls it turned out that more than 30 million people in the USA gamble -this is, along with the UK, the best result in the world. Problems emerged a little later. The new legislation contributed to the state budget losses of billions of dollars, according to the recent leak of information the government is thinking about the removal of a ban on gambling. Alarming news come from Estonia, where all forms of gambling on the Internet were banned not so long ago. That is why all betting portals were blocked for the citizens of Estonia.