The Dutch sports betting monopoly De Lotto is summoning the owners of some 40 international online sports betting sites to appear in the Dutch court for summary proceedings in Arnhem tomorrow.
The complaint concerns Internet gambling sites worldwide, including those in Malta, such as Mr. Bookmaker from Malta, Gameday from Curacao, Gamebookers from Antigua and Score Sportsbook from Costa Rica. De Lotto demands an immediate stop offering sports bets to Dutch players on penalty of a penal sum of 10,000 Euro per day.
In March 2003, De Lotto won a summary proceeding, and the court president decided that British bookmaker Ladbrokes was obliged to block Dutch punters from gambling at its Web site. Any day that Ladbrokes was not following the court's orders, it would be penalized with a fine of 10,000 Euro.
After this court ruling, De Lotto summoned more than 80 sports betting sites to refrain from offering sports bets to Dutch punters. More than 40 Internet gambling operators--including Britain's William Hill--informed De Lotto that they would oblige. The other 40 operators are now summoned to appear in court in Arnhem tomorrow.
De Lotto has an exclusive state permit to organize sports betting via its Web sites, www.lotto.nl, www.toto.nl and www.luckyday.nl.
"In the Netherlands, we have strict rules and we are obeying them," explained 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). "Other operators are free Willis. This should stop. And we are planning to do so, even (if) it takes much time and money."
The following sites have been summoned to appear in court tomorrow:
CURAWORLD N.V.
ROYAL COMBIVAC A.V.V., also operating under the name VIP
GAMEDAY INTERNATIONAL N.V
TELTRADE INTERNATIONAL N.V.
KING'S CROSS N.V.
PINNACLE SPORTS
MELSPEC, INC.
AE BET
RENE LAZURE
FRANK CEZAR
HAMPTON PORTOFINO GROUP S.A.
INTERNET OPPORTUNITY ENTERTAINMENT LTD.
INTERNATIONAL GAMING AND ENTERTAINMENT, LTD.
WORLD SPORT EXCHANGE LIMITED, GAMEBOOKERS LTD.
NETFORCE SYSTEMS, INC.
ERIC BOUCHARD
CONTESSA MARKETING (SERVICES), INC.
WN CONNECTIONS, ABRAHAM VLASTIMIL
GK WORLD LINK TELECOM S.A.
PERPLEXA S.A.
BML CORPORATION
INF. Y COMUNICACIONES DEL CARIBE
TELEPUBLICIDAD SBG S.A.
NORDICBET GROUP S.A.
SCORE SPORTSBOOK
INC.
FIRST AMERICAN TRUST LTD.
SAPPHIRE ENTERPRISES CORP.
WW PROCESSING
NETGAMES, INC.
CARIB INTERNATIONAL LTD.
BBF INTERNATIONAL
IASBET LTD.
INTERNATIONAL SPORTSBOOK SYSTEMS PTY LTD
MULTIBET.COM PTY LTD.
SPORT ONLINE BOOKIE
LIONS BAY HOLDINGS S.A.