Italy plants e-ban on Malta gaming authority website

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Italy plants e-ban on Malta gaming authority website

Matthew Vella

The Italian authorities have upped the ante on its blockade of Maltese gaming sites, now blacking out the Lotteries and Gaming Authority's official website - the last remaining link to some 68 gaming sites registered in Malta.
Months after Italy enacted a blockade of 684 internet gaming sites back in February, the LGA website is now no longer accessible from Italian territory, after Italy's state administration for monopolies, the AAMS, warned the site had no authorisation to collect bets.
In a bid to bypass the blockade, the authority linked its website to all the Maltese gaming sites using a web anonymizer that disguises the websites' IP addresses.
LGA chief executive Mario Galea, who on Thursday was in Italy addressing the European Forum of Gaming Regulations, addressed all Europe's regulators with a strong statement opposing Italy's actions.
"We cannot accept that the good, the bad and the ugly are thrown in the same basket. Malta's websites are regulated by the official Maltese authority," Galea said.
Malta Remote Gaming Council (MRGC) chairperson George Debrincat was not yet aware of the LGA blackout when contacted on Thursday. "We're concerned that such a practice may set a dangerous precedent for the future," Debrincat told MaltaToday.
Following a measure announced in the Italian budget, the Italian government blocked all foreign gaming sites from the UK to Malta, claiming it was protecting Italian gamers from "phishing" - the fraudulent acquisition of passwords and credit card details.
But critics says Italy is only protecting its EUR1.8 billion gambling monopoly, belonging to the Italian state and a few authorised private partners. The MRGC said in April there was no reason why Maltese websites should be stopped "other than to protect the Italian government's monopoly which runs betting in Italy."
Italian ISPs which do not block the foreign websites risk a daily fine of EUR180,000 each time they allowed someone to bet with a "blacklisted" company.
A recent victorious ruling to have AAMS remove its blockade, brought by Malta-registered internet bookie Astrabet, was recently revoked by an appeals court in Italy.
Adding to the confusion, while the appeal by AAMs was accepted, the request for a suspension of the ruling was not, which means access to Astrabet should be open to Italians at present. The AAMS has however not yet lifted its blockade to the site.
LGA chief executive Mario Galea said the blockade has affected Maltese gaming operators differently: "There are those who suffered, others who did not lose business but are not having new players, whilst others are actually doing better. From the tax returns we see on the whole an increase in gaming revenue."
Galea said the authority was still awaiting a reply from the European Commission's investigations into whether infringement procedures should be commenced against Italy. The European Commission has also sent warnings to the government of Italy requesting information on restrictions imposed on online betting and gaming.
The LGA has so far not pressed for any direct action, unlike British gambling heavyweights who joined up to contest the blockade, seeking specialist legal advice from Freshfields. Galea said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has already communicated with its Italian counterpart.

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