Bwin.party loses court case in Portugal

[The Buzz]

Online gambling behometh Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, the world's largest publically traded Internet gaming firm, suffered a setback when a Portuguese court ordered the company to remove all advertising and sponsorship from Portugese sports competitions.

From iGaming Business:

Monday’s ruling stems from a court battle which began in 2005. The Portuguese Casino Association joined forces with national lottery operator Santa Casa to complain that Bwin.party has an unfair advantage as it is not taxed or subject to Portuguese gambling legislation.

Bwin.party has stated the court’s decision goes against European law, with a spokesman adding: “One cannot aggressively advertise and expand games on the one hand and keep foreign competition out on the other hand.” Bwin's lawyer, Eduardo Serra Jorge, said: “It is time for the state to legislate and tax online gambling instead of banning it. Regulating it is in the interest of the consumer, the economy and the state budget.”

[Monica]

This is so ridiculous in so many different ways. It's not about player protection and it is not about the law. Santa Casa and some of the offline casinos just want to keep their gorgeous monopoly intact.

Why is my own country so dumb about this! We are in the middle of a financial crisis and we could benefit from the gaming tax income, follow the spanish example.... But no, as per usual it is preferred doing business with their heads buried in sand.... with no legislation at all when it comes to online gambling, isn’t it obvious online casinos will continue to operate and furthermore lead to the growth of roguish operations in unregulated territories like these?

There are no competing Portuguese online operations, so I don’t even get how they could approve such a ruling based on offline gaming rules, since we do not have a proper online legal framework.
Sorry for the rant..... but sometimes I feel my tiny country is just stuck!