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State rolls snake eyes against Web gambling
Foreign bookies ignore law against cyber bets By Frantisek Bouc Staff Writer, The Prague Post November 11th, 2004 The government has found itself on the losing side in the fight against online gambling. Foreign online gambling sites are increasingly targeting customers in the Czech Republic despite the practice being illegal in the country. British company Sportingbet recently introduced a Czech Web site, making it the fourth UK-based online casino to offer services in the Czech language. The others include Worldbet, Betsson and Eurobet. The invasion of foreign betting firms is likely to increase, said Martin Hajek, owner of www.esazeni.cz. "The Czech betting market is very attractive and we can expect more firms will attempt to get a share of it," he said. The government has been unsuccessful in its attempts to block online gambling sites. Finance Ministry spokesman Marek Zeman said the targeting of Czechs by foreign gambling sites was a clear violation of the law and the ministry would work with local police to prosecute violators. "We do all we can in order to force them out of here," he said. "The problem is that the Internet has no borders, so it's very difficult to get the upper hand." The government launched a campaign against foreign online gambling sites in the spring after British company Betsson not only added the Czech language to its Web site but also took out advertisements in local media promoting its site. "Betsson made a breakthrough after it began openly communicating with the media and also with state authorities regarding the legitimacy of their business," Hajek said. Betsson Communications Director Martin Bunge Meyer has previously said Betsson was aware that online betting was illegal in this country. His rationale for continuing to operate was a decision by the European Court of Justice, which ruled that an Italian betting firm could collect bets for a British Internet-based company. Meyer said Betsson's Czech-language operations were based on a British license and so the company, in his opinion, could continue to operate legally. "Our response to that appeal is that we are not present in the Czech Republic," he said. Representatives from Sportingbet were not available for comment as of press time. Guidelines published on the its Web site, though, make it clear that the company takes no responsibility for clients who place bets from countries where the action is prohibited by law. "Internet gambling may be illegal in the jurisdiction in which you are located. It is each customer's responsibility to ensure that they comply with their own local laws with regard to betting," the guidelines state. George Merodoulakis, marketing director for Eurobet, insisted the Czech government was obliged to respect business licenses issued within the EU. "When we hold a British license, we are legal in the EU region and so the Czech government cannot label our business illegal," he said. Even if the state had the right to enforce its national laws against offshore gambling Web sites, it possesses no effective way to keep them out, said Hajek of www.esazeni.cz. "If a company holds a British license, it follows British law and its servers are located in Britain. Hardly anyone can order them not to introduce a Czech-language site," Hajek said. Hajek said the government would be better off changing the national lottery law and opening the gambling market to other European companies.
Frantisek Bouc can be reached at
fbouc@praguepost.com
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