DGAP-News: Final Court decision: Lottery brokerage via the Internet is allowed (english)
Jun 29, 2011 12:31 PM
Final Court decision: Lottery brokerage via the Internet is allowed
DGAP-News: Tipp24 SE / Key word(s): Legal Matter
Final Court decision: Lottery brokerage via the Internet is allowed
29.06.2011 / 10:30
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Press release
Final Court decision: Lottery brokerage via the Internet is allowed
- First principle judgements on lottery brokerage via the Internet
unappealable
- Court collection of facts: Lottery addiction non-existent
(Hamburg, 29 June 2011) Final court decision: The brokering of lotteries on
the Internet, in particular of 'Lotto 6 aus 49', is allowed. Its
advertising is also allowed. The judgements of the Halle administrative
court dated 11 November last year on this have been in force since 28 June
2011. The state of Saxony-Anhalt finally withdrew its appeals.
The Halle administrative court has declared all restrictions of the German
State Treaty on Gaming (GlüStV) inapplicable for private lottery brokers
such as Tipp24. This includes being banned from the Internet, the
requirement for permission to broker lotteries on the Internet as well as
the ban against advertising. With its ruling, the court followed the
guidelines of the European Court of Justice (EuGH), which had declared the
material restrictions of the GlüStV inapplicable due to a lack of coherence
and system on 8 September 2010.
In its arguments, the Halle administrative court referred to the incoherent
regulations of the various gaming areas. The court determined that the
restrictions for private lottery brokers are excessive. In collecting facts
the court had consulted about 100 specialised clinics as well as all
custody courts in Germany about the significance of the lottery within the
context of gaming addiction. The analysis of the results showed that a
gaming addiction essentially does not exist. A supplementary scientific
analysis categorized this into the status of research.
The court thus concluded that there was no notable evidence for a risk of
addiction to lotteries. However, the court continued, this would have been
required to justify the drastic bans on private marketing. The bans
therefore are in contravention of European law. Tipp24 does not need to
observe them and may broker the lottery on the Internet without seeking
permission.
The legislature must take this now legally binding collection of facts into
consideration in its amendment to the GlüStV.
Dr Hans Cornehl, Tipp24 SE board member: 'The judgement confirms our
long-standing experience that there are no risks associated with the
marketing of a lottery. And therefore there is no longer any reason for
imposing unnecessary restrictions on the private brokering of state
lotteries.'
About Tipp24 SE: Tipp24 SE (formerly Tipp24 AG) was founded in September
1999 and holds equity interests in a number of companies in Spain, Italy
and the UK, which enable participation in lottery-based games via the
Internet, especially via the websites www.ventura24.es, www.giochi24.it,
www.mylotto24.co.uk and www.tipp24.com. In Germany, Tipp24 Entertainment
GmbH operates the games platform www.tipp24games.de. From its foundation to
the end of 2008, Tipp24 SE brokered tickets worth over 1.5 billion euros to
the state lottery companies - in recent years over 330 million euros
annually. Following its successful IPO in 2005 (Prime Standard), the
company was admitted to the SDAX index in June 2009 and has been trading as
a European public limited company since December 2009.
Press contact:
Tipp24 SE
Andrea Fratini
Head of Media and Public Relations
Tel.: +49 40 32 55 33-660
E-mail: presse@tipp24.de
Internet: www.tipp24-se.de/presse/
End of Corporate News
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29.06.2011 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
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Language: English
Company: Tipp24 SE
Straßenbahnring 11
20251 Hamburg
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)40 325533-0
Fax: +49 (0)40 325533-77
E-mail: office@tipp24.de
Internet: www.tipp24-se.de
ISIN: DE0007847147
WKN: 784714
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard);
Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München,
Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News-Service
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130098 29.06.2011
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