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Bwin Loses Bid to Halt Online Ban in German State (Update2)
By Karin Matussek
Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG lost a court bid to overturn a 2007 prohibition against offering online gambling and other Internet games to customers in the German state of Lower Saxony.
The administrative court in Hanover, Lower Saxony's capital, threw out Bwin's action against the state government today. The ruling can be appealed.
Bwin has been entangled in numerous lawsuits over online gambling in Germany, where analysts say the company has a third of its sales. The country's 16 states reinstated a collective ban on Internet betting Jan. 1.
``We have no doubt that the German state monopoly on Internet betting is legal and have ruled so several times,'' presiding Judge Werner Reccius said at the hearing. ``This ruling only applies in Lower Saxony but if it prompts Bwin to shut down its Web sites in all of Germany, this would only reflect what the law actually is.''
Vienna-based Bwin has sued several states over the issue, arguing the rules violate European law. European Union regulators started proceedings against Germany on Jan. 31 over the ban.
Bwin Appeal
``This ruling does not correspond to European Union law,'' company spokesman Kevin O'Neal said via telephone from Vienna today. ``We will appeal the ruling in Lower Saxony and are confident that European Union law will be adhered in the end.''
Shares of the company fell 10 cents to 19.20 euros ($28) in Vienna trading.
The judges allowed the company to appeal, because German courts have issued disparate rulings on the issue.
``Many courts hold a different view from ours so it's worth having this ruling reviewed by a higher court,'' Reccius said.
Courts in the German states of Hesse and Bavaria have held that Bwin can't be forced to stop offering bets in just one territory, as it is technically impossible for the company to locate its clients.
Reccius said that in combination with mobile phones it's possible to locate any user and thus block access to players from a particular territory.
Today's case is 10 A 4359/07 at the Hanover Administrative Court. |
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发表于 2008-9-23 07:25
