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October 5, 2007
A panel of online gaming industry experts at the Barcelona European i-Gaming Congress and Expo has been discussing the whether harmonization of law and standards affecting the industry is attainable in Europe. The panel included Alderney regulator Andre Wilsenach, the head of compliance at Betfair, Roger Parks, and the adviser to Norway’s ministry of Churches and Culture, Rolf Francis Sims. Alderney’s Wilsenach painted a depressing picture of the lack of progress saying there was little real support for an actual online gambling industry while state monopolies remained rife. His views will not be good news for online bingo operators who have also had to deal with the recent closure of the US market to European operators and online bingo halls. Alarmingly, Sims confirmed news reports that Norway is considering implementing a version of UIGEA for its own markets. Such a decision would be a body blow to efforts for a more free online bingo market in Europe. Sims seems to be of the opinion that the online gambling industry is in for a bumpy ride over the next two years. He believes the European Court of Justice is increasingly uncomfortable with the role expected of it by the European Commission’s attempts to free up the market from current state-run gambling monopolies. Roger Parks of Betfair posed a different view on monopolies, saying that current technology and expertise, when combined with a well regulated industry, is more than capable of combating problem and underage gambling. He believes the ground work is there for an industry more capable of this than government-run monopolies. Reported questions from the floor took on a strong tone of disagreement with the way current Norwegian policy was working. "You want to have your cake and eat it," was one comment. Another audience member said that Europe seemed more interested in protecting its state-run monopolies rather than in developing coherent standards. Written by John Witherspoon – Come and play online bingo at its best! The best bingo games online are one click away.
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