At Last Legalized Gambling Is Coming To Norway

The regulation of online gambling in Norway has been the subject of debate for a long time and currently all forms of interactive gaming via the internet are prohibited.

Rolf-Francis Sims, Legal Adviser, to the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs in Norway, said that in December 2008 the Norwegian Parliament enacted a bill proposal from the Norwegian Government regarding a prohibition on processing of payments from Norway to non-licensed remote gambling sites.

The activity contained in the bill is the processing of payments to remote gambling sites without a Norwegian license, classified as an unlawful accessory involvement in the holding and mediation of non-licensed gaming. The prohibition is anchored in Gaming Law and not Financial Law. Entities comprised by the bill are Norwegian credit card companies, financial institutions and other mediums assisting the transfer of payments for remote gambling for gamblers in Norway.

This is similar to the process by which the USA has kept the public from legally gambling online. The legislative aims are to create an obstacle for remote gambling from Norway, strengthen national supervision of the domestic gaming market and limit evasion of Norwegian gaming law as interactive gaming. Casinos and poker are prohibited in Norway.

It is suggested that the bill is reasonable because Norway is an attractive market for the remote gaming industry due to the high number of Norwegians who have access to the internet, and there is a significant increase in remote gambling from Norway. There are also indications of growing social problems and concerns that remote gambling represents a serious risk to the public health.

The proposal contained detailed regulations regarding the prohibition and was sent for public consultation and notification in April of 2009. It is expected that both the bill and the regulations will come into force sometime in 2010.

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