Dutch Court Ruling Could Change Internet Gambling

28 January 2003

In summary proceedings, the court president in Arnhem, the Netherlands has decided that British bookmaker Ladbrokes is obliged to block Dutch punters from gambling at its Web site.

Above that, Ladbrokes, part of Ladbrokes Limited, Hilton Group's betting and gaming division, has been ordered by the court to shut down its Dutch-language Web site within three days.


"Now our lawyers will contact other Internet gambling organizations and we will summon them to stop their activities directed at the Dutch gamers."
-Tjeerd Veenstra
De Lotto

The judge stated that Ladbrokes has no license for the Dutch jurisdiction and is not remitting moneys for good causes.

The case was brought by Dutch lottery operator De Lotto in response to what the group considered unfair competition.

Tjeerd Veenstra, president of De Lotto's board and a member of the Executive Committee of the European State Lotteries and Toto Association (European Lotteries), was elated by the verdict.

"Of course there is this element of unfair trading," Veenstra said. "We are financially supporting a.o. sports organizations. Above that we have a strict program to fight gambling addiction. But this arrest means much more than unfair competition. This will have a European impact. Now our lawyers will contact other Internet gambling organizations and we will summon them to stop their activities directed at the Dutch gamers.

"Never before in Europe (has) a gambling site (been) ordered to keep out players from another country. And what's more, with this court decision we are able to block cross-border selling, and we can stop all activities of international agents."

Technically blocking a country is possible via a special number code assigned to the Internet server, which every Internet user has.

Any day that Ladbrokes is not following the court's orders, it will be penalized with a fine of 10,000 euro.

Representatives from Ladbrokes were not immediately available for comment.




Rob van der Gaast has a background in sports journalism. He worked for over seven years as the head of sports for Dutch National Radio and has developed new concepts for the TV and the gambling industry. Now he operates from Istanbul as an independent gambling research analyst. He specializes in European gambling matters and in privatizations of gambling operators. Rob has contributed to IGN since Jul 09, 2001.