Ladbrokes has been ordered by the Dutch Supreme Court to block all IP addresses from the Netherlands in a major setback for efforts to liberalise the Dutch egaming market.
UK-based Ladbrokes, owned by the Hilton Group, launched the legal case in an attempt to contest the Dutch government’s ban on foreign gambling operators.
However, the Dutch Supreme Court said the block on foreign operators was consistent with EU law and agreed with previous rulings by the Dutch lower courts.
And the state-licensed operator, De Lotto, said it hoped the ruling would set a trend for other cases in the Dutch courts.
"This ruling is most important for a number of other cases running in the Netherlands against illegal gambling sites, such as Betfair and Interwetten," Lotto said in a statement.
A final ruling is now expected from the Supreme Court in the next two months, and Ladbrokes may be forced to take the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
The ECJ has previously ruled in favour of egaming operators, most notably in the famous Gambelli decision, which ruled Italy’s gambling monopoly violated free trade laws.
But to date the Gambelli decision has failed to elicit similar rulings from national courts.
source : egaming review magazine
