[clevfan]

German states to ban foreign Internet betting

Sun Nov 12, 2006 7:10am ET

BERLIN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Germany's 16 federal states want to prevent foreign companies from offering Internet betting services, a magazine reported on Sunday. New rules to be signed off by state premiers on Dec. 13 will mean both foreign and German firms will be prohibited from offering Internet betting, weekly magazine Focus reported, without naming the source of its information. Either Internet service providers will be obliged to filter out offending Web sites or banks will be instructed not to transfer cash out of Germany to pay for bets, Focus said.

The state of Saxony and two other states recently imposed a ban on commercial betting as they attempt to protect their lucrative monopoly as lottery operators.

The ban was directed mainly at Austrian Internet betting firm bwin.com (BWIN.VI: Quote, Profile, Research), whose German unit is the country's biggest commercial bookmaker.