German court upholds ban on online betting | IXGAMES
A top German court said on Friday it rejected a constitutional challenge to a ban on internet sports betting brought by an online sports betting company.The company had cited a March 1990 ruling in the state of Thuringia, dating back to the formerly Communist East Germany, which allowed sports betting. A subsequent ruling in 2004 banned betting over the internet with immediate effect. The company, which was not named in court papers, was challenging this ruling in the Federal Constitutional Court. 
Germany’s 16 states are in the process of drafting a law to outlaw Internet gambling altogether and uphold a state monopoly on lottery ticket sales, resisting pressure by the European Union to open the market. The state of Saxony and two other states imposed a ban earlier this year on commercial online betting. That was directed mainly at bwin.com, whose German unit is the country’s biggest commercial bookmaker. Online gambling companies are increasingly facing stringent regulation in the United States and Europe where governments are curbing Internet gambling to protect customers and state-run lotteries. In a separate ruling, a regional court upheld a ban on sports betting in the state of Lower Saxony, dismissing a law suit by a private sports betting firm.