Will Holland enact its own UIGEA?

[Qbins Missile Crisis]

I just can't figure out the Dutch.

One the one side, Holland is probably the most libertarian country on Earth, which explains their hands-off approach to drugs and prostitution.

But libertarianism cuts both ways, and can lead to some isolationist policies. An example of this mentality is the stance Holland is taking against online gambling.

Unlike America which takes the stance that online gambling is evil, Holland is OK with the idea of online gambling, but wants to keep it strictly within its own borders - and monopolized by the government.

According to this Reuters article, "only the Dutch state lottery De Lotto has a permit to offer online gambling, and last month the Dutch upper house defeated a bill that would have allowed Holland Casino to open a gambling website on a trial basis."

Furthermore, as the article states, Holland's Justice Ministry intends "to crack down on illegal online casinos and are calling on banks to stop providing financial services to them".

In other words, a Dutch UIGEA. Which would probably be pronounced "van der UIGEAtoom", or something like that. But I digress.

Either way, this is not going to sit well within the EU.

After all, the EU has a policy that all countries within the EU should allow open competition within the online gambling market. And in this instance, Holland isn't just disallowing foreign competition, but domestic competition as well.

And let's not overlook the WTO implications this could raise. The EU is already considering filing a complaint against America for its stance against online gambling, and here is one of their own member countries enacting a policy that is even more strange than America's.

And Holland isn't the only country rattling the cage. France, Germany and Greece all have similarly retarded positions regarding online gambling. It's time for the EU to crack the whip and get it's members in line.

Posted May 12th, 2008
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