Online Gambling To Be Regulated In Spain And Italy - 12-12-06

December 12 - The Italian and Spanish Governments have passed legislation that will change the face of land-based and online gambling in those countries, which has prompted a rush of licensing applications from gaming companies all over the world...

The Italian government will auction 17,000 licenses for sports and racing betting at land based outlets, and companies will be able to bid for multiple licenses, .As part of the legislation, sports betting will be permitted online.

The Italian government will also regulate what it calls " remote casino gambling". 30 companies have already been licensed to accept online wagers, and many of them are large global betting companies like Betfair, William Hill and Unibet. Skill games like poker will be included in the legislation.

The Spanish government will regulate sports betting in shops and online. Regional governments in Spain will still retain powers.

It is expected that the UK's large betting operators will take advantage of the new legislation. Some of these operators such as Ladbrokes already have a joint venture agreement with Italian firm Pianeta Scommesse, and William Hill is finalizing a joint venture with Spanish firm Codere.

This move marks a complete turnaround in policy for the Italians, as they seemed sure to continue blocking foreign companies. It even went as far as ordering Internet Service providers to block specific sites.

This is great news for the industry in the light of recent events in the USA.

If you are based in the USA, please visit our USA online casino guide, else you may want to take a look at our best online casinos.

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