France And Finland Go Opposite Ways Regarding Online Poker
France currently have a stringent set of regulations and government monopoly over online gambling, whereas in Finland it is completely unregulated.
Finland, contrastingly, doesn’t regulate online poker but the government is now looking into a possible new tax. A recently-released report showed that Finns spend over €50 million on online gambling in the last year, and are considering how a slice of that could go to the government.
Online betting is not allowed in France, but the European Commission of the EU is pressuring France to conform to the EU treaty regarding free competition with other member nations.
3 comments
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Posted by Charlene – 7 May 2008, 4:39 PM
I don't think any country really knows what to do with online gambling yet. It seems like the internet has been around for quite a while, but in the grand scheme of things, it's still relatively young and things like gambling make it really difficult to figure out regulations.
Posted by serina – 5 May 2008, 10:11 PM
I thought France was looking to change their online poker/gamlbing regulations by the end of this year? Anyway, I didn't realize Finland didn't have any regulations and it sounds like it's pretty popular over there. Of course, the government wants to get their take!
Posted by borisK – 7 May 2008, 5:28 AM
Apparently someone forgot to tell Finland taxing gambling is the greatest idea since taxes in general. I thought France was trying to change their laws too but I suppose they are opposite right now. I wonder what other things aren't as strict in Finland?