BWin Arrests: French Official View

Published: Saturday, September 16, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

REPRESSIVE MEASURES ARE ACCEPTABLE SAYS FRENCH OFFICIAL

An interesting insight into French official thinking on the Bwin detentions

eGaming Review provided an intriguing insight into official French thinking on the Bwin arrests this week. Quoting a source in the legal section of the betting and gaming unit of the French 'Renseignements Généraux' (Section judiciaire de la sous-direction des courses et des jeux des renseignements généraux), the Review reported that French authorities would "do their utmost to prevent any other private operators from operating in the French market."

The unnamed source said: "It [online betting] has always been illegal and as the stakes are getting more and more important the decision to take action was implemented. But this was made possible by the fact that both individuals were on French soil. If they had been there a year ago they would have been arrested."

He added that "online betting, lottery and casino games" are "illegal" and that "operating the site is the main offence".

When questioned whether the French authorities would be worried over European Commission moves regarding the running of national gambling monopolies, he said "each state is currently within its rights to set in place a repressive system in order to regulate its games policy".

eGaming Review sources also suggested the action of the French authorities may have been triggered by the two biggest land-based casino groups in France, Partouche and Barrière.

The two companies had recently wanted to launch online versions of their casino products but had not been allowed to do so by French gaming and gambling authorities. Partouche subsequently set up an office in London to operate its online gaming business.