Dutch Suggesting Gambling Controls
The Netherlands Ministry of Justice is about to introduce legislation that would impose criminal penalties on banks and credit cards companies for facilitating Dutch citizens gambling on foreign gambling sites. According to the Justice Ministry, some thirty foreign online gaming sites are targeting Dutch citizens - even though online gaming is illegal in the Netherlands. The Justice Ministry is expected to circulate a list of banned gaming sites as early as this Spring - requiring financial payment processors to block transactions to and from such sites. The Netherlands is one of numerous European states that continues to operate a gambling monopoly - in contravention of EU free market rules. 
If this legislation comes into force, it will be the latest in a string of protectionist moves by European States seeking to protect their national monopolies from private competition.