Considering the UIGEA debacle that has had such an enormous negative effect on the online gambling industry in the United States since its implementation in 2006, the possibility that similar legislation could be in store for Europe is unwelcome news indeed for online bingo operators across that continent.

A panel at the European Gaming Conference in Barcelona is reported to have been discussed the viability of synchronisation and standardising of the laws affecting the online gaming industry. On the panel were Andre Wilsenach, Alderney regulator and head of conformity at Betfair, as well as Rolf Francis Sims who is the adviser to Norway’s ministry of Culture.

The latter panel member has confirmed reports that Norway is considering implementing its own version of UIGEA to cover its markets. Such a move would fly in the face of all efforts towards a more free online bingo market on the European continent. Mr Sims said that the industry should prepare for a unsettled times and stated his opinion that the European Court of Justice is increasingly uncomfortable with the European Union’s attempts to release the market from state-run gambling monopolies.

Further bad news came from Alderney’s Mr Wilsenach who has pointed to an overall picture of slow or non-existent progress within the online gambling industry while state monopolies remain in control.
These statements were met with strongly voiced criticism from the floor, with some feeling that Europe is seemingly more concerned with protecting its state-run monopolies than in developing consistent standards.