NYLANDER LAYS INTO THE FRENCH OVER ONLINE GAMBLING ACCUSATIONS (Update)

9 November 2007

Laws under which he is being investigated for illegal activities are "obsolete," says newly released Unibet exec


Out on Euro 200 000 bail after a late evening appearance before a French judge on illegal gambling and advertising charges (see previous InfoPowa reports) Unibet CEO Petter Nylander wasted no time in slamming the actions of French gambling monopolies Francaise des Jeux and PMU in instigating his arrest last week at a Dutch airport....and in criticising the French laws involved.

Nylander called for an end to the French state's gaming monopoly, attacking the laws under which he is being investigated for illegal activities as "obsolete."

Speaking in London where he lives, the 43-year-old Swede said the case against him and Unibet was harassment and indicative of anti-competitive protectionism on the part of France's state-owned gambling firms.

"The laws that are used against me in France are from 1836 and 1891 ... before the European Union was created, before the Internet was created," he told a news conference. "Those national laws are obsolete. In the last 20 years, we've seen several European monopolies being transformed from strict tough state monopolies to open competition.

"You can take the airline industry, the broadcast industry, telecom sector, to the benefit of the European consumers. This is just another monopoly going down, painfully.

"However, I'm not aware of a monopoly going down throwing competitors into prison. We need to stop this harrassment of companies.

"We need to create a modern form of a gaming industry, to find a way for responsible companies like Unibet and others to work and be non discriminated compared to state companies in Europe."

The online gambling executive insisted French law did not apply to Unibet.

"We have no office in France, people use the Internet. How can it be illegal?" he said.

French monopoly laws date from the 19th century and protect French gambling operators Francaise des Jeux and horse-racing betting group PMU.

Unibet is registered in Malta, operated out of Britain and listed on the Stockholm stock exchange. It claims to have 1.8 million customers in 150 countries.

In French law, being placed under judicial investigation is one step short of being formally charged and does not necessarily mean Nylander is heading for trial, although he has been warned that he may have to return to France for further investigation....and there's that Euro 200 000 bail......

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa