lotteries and betting games can be acquired as long operators are guided by strict laws, licenses and regulations as implemented by the government...
The Italian Government practices gambling legislation as based on other European Countries. The state has the power to implement rules and regulations in gambling. As part of the government’s exclusivity in carrying out rules in gambling, they have decided to incorporate another government agency which is the AAMS (Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stado – Autonomous Administration of the State Monopolies) to take part in the decision process. The AAMS is given the power to check on all gambling matters and activities, carry out the issuance of licenses and implement rules and regulations as based on legitimate practices in the gambling industry.
All forms of gambling such as games of chance, lotteries and betting games can be acquired as long operators are guided by strict laws, licenses and regulations as implemented by the government and AAMS. Any operator who violates any of the laws and regulations shall be punished by law and will be prohibited from entering any gambling hall. The consequences are as follows: fines, imprisonment, forfeitures, parole, criminal trial and other freedom restrictions. Apart from this, operators who violate gambling laws of the Italian government shall be given administrative actions in the form of suspension or withdrawal of business license or monetary fines.
For the past five years, Italy pioneered effective approaches in the online gaming laws. Italy’s gambling legislation is based on 20 issues, some of which are:
• Legalization of using real money in remote skill games
• Legalization of remote betting in a peer-to-peer interactive setting
Operators located in EFTA and EU countries and other countries offshore can possibly apply for an Italian Gaming License as long as they are able to comply with the rules and regulations as implemented by the Italian government. They must also comply on the transfer of their gaming servers to Italy.
For those who would want to operate gambling through betting corners and shops, they can acquire remote gaming license from AAMS with a fee of €300,000.
In December 28, 2008, the process of tender was granted. 33 remote gaming licenses for online gaming operators were also approved some of these are: 888, Intralot, Ladbrokes, William Hill, Unibet and Betfair.
The promotion of secured online gaming was implemented under the Finance Act 2007 or FA07. This Act states that whichever type of card games are perceived as skilled-based games as long as:
• games are carried out in the form a tournament and;
• the entry fee and amount of stake are just of the same rate in every game tournament. (This provision is geared towards the legalization of poker online games which turned into tournament skill games.
The Act was implemented in February 2006 by the AAMS. As part of the implementation of the said Act, the governing body apprehended more than 500 websites because of illegal gambling practices. As a result these sites are now blacklisted so that they can no longer operate in the online gaming industry.
Due to the elimination of blacklisted sites, the policies made were proved to be efficient as the legitimate gaming industry started to grow.
