BELLEROCK BANNING ONLINE GAMBLERS FROM ISRAEL ?

9 February 2007

Possibly consequences of Judge Heiman's ruling

Earlier this week InfoPowa reported on an important ruling by an Israeli judge, who found that online gambling sites outside Israel may not hide behind the fact that companies and servers may be located in another country.

It appeared this week that Bellerock may be excluding Israeli gamblers from its sites as a consequence of the ruling. Players from Israel reported receiving emails from the Gibraltar-based online gambling group which said:

"It is with sincere regret that we must inform you that, due to recent events, Israeli players will no longer be able to place bets or fund their Belle Rock Entertainment gaming accounts.

"And so xxx, it is with much regret that we have to inform you that within 24 hours from February 1st 17h00 (IST) your account(s) and the gaming software, will no longer be accessible."

In his judgement against an online gambling firm earlier this week, Israeli Judge Abraham Heiman said that online gambling sites may not hide behind the fact that the company and its servers are located in another country, and it is breaking the law if does not block access to Israelis, said the judge in the Rishon LeZion Magistrates Court.

Judge Heiman's ruling was in respect of a case against Victor Chandler. Heiman said, “In the era of the Internet, the original location of content (Internet services) is marginal and negligible. The centre of gravity, especially the territorial legal jurisdiction, must switch to the end point, in other words, the individual computer

A spokesman for BelleRock parent Carmen Media has confirmed that the group now bans Israeli players. Responding to an InfoPowa request for confirmation of the report, the spokesman said: "This is correct; we have stopped accepting play from players based in Israel . We have never actively solicited play from Israel but allowed those that found us to play. Based on this [Heiman] ruling we will now actively block players from Israel."

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa

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