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Germany’s federal states plan to ban Internet gambling, according to draft documents to be discussed by the country’s state premiers on Wednesday, a Reuters reported.
Despite pressure from the European Commission to open up Europe’s gambling market to competition, ministers from most states want to sign off on new rules aimed at protecting their lucrative monopoly as lottery operators.
It also reported that the mainly private firms, such as Tipp24 and Fluxx, would be granted a one-year transition period. The ministers will meet in Berlin on Wednesday morning.
The state of Saxony and two other states imposed a ban earlier this year on commercial betting. That was directed mainly at
Austrian Internet betting firm bwin.com whose German unit is the country’s biggest commercial bookmaker.
Bwin and its peers are facing increasingly stringent regulations in the United States and Europe, where governments are curbing
Internet gambling to protect customers and state-run lotteries.
Internet gambling industry worth $528 billion per annum
Merrill Lynch realeased a new research which states that the Internet gambling industry is still in its infancy and won’t hit its peak until the year 2015.
By 2015, the financial advisor predicts, the global I-gaming market will bring in a mind-blowing $528 billion annually, despite the United States’ prohibitive I-gaming legislation.
Merrill Lynch based its projections on the progression of the industry since 2001. Earnings are expected to reach $24 billion by 2010 (double what it was in 2005), and 2006 earnings are estimated at $15 billion.
U.K. government projections boost the Togel numbers even further. Europe’s regular online gamblers already stake nearly £3.5 billion a year, which averages out to about £1,000 per person. Once Britain’s new gambling laws take effect in 2007 those numbers are …
