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Norway Moves to Block Transactions of Online Poker & Online Gambling Sites

by PokerPages.com
Tue, Nov 20th, 2007 @ 12:00am

The Norwegian Government has taken steps to make it illegal for Norwegian financial institutions to process payments related to online gambling sites, including those for online poker, which many industry observers believe is not to protect Norwegian people from gambling problems as officials claim, but to protect the state gambling monopoly, Norske Tipping.

As reported earlier (click here for related article), the possibility of a payment ban for online gambling was mentioned by Culture Minister Trond Giske, when, in reaction to public outcry against the rise in online gambling amongst Norweigans, he said, "We have been monitoring the issue, and are aware of the drastic increase there has been in people turning to help lines and support organisations due to gaming addiction."

Last week the Norwegian Government proposed an amendment to existing gaming legislation that it claims is meant to clarify that the existing Norwegian gambling laws apply to payment processing.

By doing so, it would criminalize any Norwegian financial institution that processes payments for online gambling websites, similar to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in USA.

Existing Norwegian gambling laws covering lotteries, horserace betting and other forms of gambling state that it is prohibited to engage in marketing or mediating for internet gambling services. The Norwegian Government claims it has simply proposed an amendment clarifying that the term 'mediating' applies to payment processing.

"There had been some debate as to whether payment processing was covered under the term 'mediating'. The new proposal has made the definition much more precise," Gamblingcompliance.com was told by a source at the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs.

The amendment will apply to the Norwegian Lottery Act, Totalisator Act and Gaming Act as appropriate. As a result, it will be illegal for companies to process financial transactions for online poker, lottery, casino, horserace or sports betting games.

The Norwegian Government has submitted the proposal for a period of public comment which will end of February 13, 2008. After that time the measure will be put before Norway's Parliament.

It is understood that the Government expects to have the ban in force by the middle of next year.

Read Related Articles:

  • Norway Plans UIGEA-like Ban on Online Poker & Internet Gambling
  • EU State Gaming Monopolies Must Open or else Go To Court Says Charlie McCreevy
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