Poland Legalizes Online Gambling - European Union Ruling in Italian Case Opens Way for Internet Gaming across EU

It seems that Europe and The United States are splitting on the issue of online gaming. While the U.S. Congress passed laws in late 2006 to make life hard on online gambling operations, members of the European Union have gone in an entirely different direction.

Poland has legalized online gambling and will collect taxes on the revenues.

Poland is following the EU by instituting these laws. The European Court of Justice sent down a ruling in March that will affect how online gambling is regulated throughout much of Europe.

Italy has tried to ban Italian players from using online gaming companies from other countries. The EU court said that Italy cannot ban companies that are licensed in other EU member nations. That's a win for the free trade we always hear right-leaning politicians talk about these days.

The E.U. ruling on Italy reminds me of the W.T.O. decision regarding the ongoing controversy between the United States and Antigua. If the U.S. allows American organizers of horse track gambling, the WTO court claims the U.S. has no right to ban foreign companies from offering the same service to American citizens. That's a long-held standard of international law under the original World Trade Organization agreement that U.S. leaders signed years ago.

The Italian case isn't quite the same, but we once again have an internationally-recognized authority saying that one country can't ban the online gambling of another country.

In the wake of the EU ruling, Polish lawmakers are trying to stay ahead of the game. A government spokesman claims Poland is meeting "the needs of the growing industry" of online gambling. The laws should be in force by September.

The new laws do allow Poland to issue licenses and collect taxes on internet gambling revenues won from players in their country. That's the problem I assume most countries have with gambling, if everyone told the truth about the subject. If a country gets its share of the action, it usually doesn't mind legalizing gambling.

Just look at U.S. state lotteries. If people want to waste a few dollars a week on a Powerball game they almost no chance of winning, most states don't mind collecting that money. American race tracks fall into the same category. It's a shame that EU countries like Poland get it, while the old U.S. of A. can't see the value of collecting their share of online gambling revenues.

As it is, online gambling continues unimpeded in Poland. Good luck to all those Polish gamers out there.

Poland Legalizes Online Gambling - European Union Ruling in Italian Case Opens Way for Internet Gaming across EU