In Sweden this past week, prosecutors were instructed to discontinue prosecuting cases against media companies who publish or air ads related to online poker and other forms of online gambling.
The lift on this ban will surely present a lot of opportunity for foreign online gambling companies to bring a lot more players to the tables.
On January 31st, the European Commission took legal action against Sweden which challenged their protectionist actions against foreign gambling companies. It seems fitting for this ban to be lifted now, as they go hand in hand.
Here’s what pokerpages.com had to say:
” The order came from UC Malmo, a department of Sweden’s Prosecution Authority, according to reports by Gaming Intelligence Group. The decision arises from an appeal made on behalf of Aftonbladet and Expressen, two Swedish newspapers who were previously found guilty of breaching Sweden’s lottery laws by accepting such advertising, and who have been fighting for the past four years to appeal the court verdict.
In January, the former and present editors-in-chief of Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, Anders Gerdin and Jan Helin sent an open letter to European Commission (EC) head Charlie McCreevy, stressing how Sweden’s law did not permit free movement of trade and services relating to online gambling between the 27-member nations, particularly in the fields of poker and sports betting, as guaranteed by EU law. Following that open letter, the Swedish Court of Appeals was directed to examine the verdict. The appeals court ruled that the Swedish lottery laws were possibly in contradiction with certain articles of the European Court pact.”
Yet another step towards freely operating online gambling agencies.