Germany banning online gambling

Starting January 1, citing "German states ratified an accord that preserves the country's state monopoly for lotteries and most forms of betting,". all forms of online gambling will be banned in the country.

At least 13 of Germany's 16 states have submitted the ratification documents, meaning that the country has the majority it needs to do this, and country officials expect to have all of them by tomorrow. The new rules ban any form of Web-based gambling or brokering of games over the Internet. The states may order Internet service providers to block Web sites of illegal betting operations and banks to stop money transfers to them. The rules' definition of illegal gaming includes placing a bet from German territory over the Web with a company based outside Germany.

This is a blow to the movement to have the gambling ban in the US lifted; with Germany entering the banning phase, it gives more ammunition to keep the ban going and dethrone the efforts of would-be "rebels". It will be interesting to see if other countries follow suit.

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