Denmark recently took a long, hard look at its future in online gambling. In December 1999 the Danish Minister for Taxation established an interministerial working group to prepare for the modernization and
unification of existing gambling legislation in Denmark. The group was also charged with assessing the possibility of maintaining national control of the Danish Internet gambling market.
In its report, the working group concluded that the state, to contain the threat posed by foreign gambling providers illegally marketing their games in Denmark, should block payment transactions to foreign operators. Nationally regulated gambling markets should prove possible with international agreements, the group said.
According to spokesman Peter Sehestedt, publication of the report stirred up an intense public debate on whether blocking should be part of Denmark's actions to control online gambling.
An English version of the report is available at: www.gambling-legislation.org.