The online gambling game is illegal in Switzerland. However, foreign providers are attracting Swiss gamblers. Swiss casinos provide the high losses

Online casinos bypass Swiss game ban

The online gambling game is illegal in Switzerland. However, foreign providers are attracting Swiss gamblers. Swiss casinos provide the high losses.

Only in a few clicks is it possible in Switzerland to gamble on the Internet gambling. This is the case in the Swiss Gaming Bank Act, however, that "the telecommunication-based implementation of gambling, in particular via the internet, is prohibited."

"The problem is foreign providers who deal with the law," says Marc Friedrich, Managing Director of the Swiss Casino Association, "Sonntagsblick". When evaluating 20 international gaming sites, the association would have found that it was easily possible for 19 foreign providers to register with a Swiss address. 15 pages would have accepted a Swiss credit card, seven would have amounts in Swiss francs and four could even be called up via a Swiss address.

Casinos lose 250 million francs

"These offers are clearly aimed at Swiss citizens. Although the online gambling game is illegal, "says Friedrich to the newspaper. And that would be a problem for conventional Swiss casinos: "They lose about 250 million francs annually to those on the net. That's why you have to put a stop to the operators, "says Friedrich.

This would be possible by using the network lock. This prevents Swiss from accessing certain Internet sites. "It's also about keeping players from gambling and fraud," says Friedrich.

National Council disagreed

The Federal Council has already decided that he wants to anchors the network barrier in the new Geldspielgesetz - also the Council of States was for it. The decision of the National Council is pending. This will follow on 1 March. But the anchorage is controversial, for the presidential commission declined by 13 to 12 votes.

One of the opponents is SVP national councilor Nathalie Rickli: "The net barrier is censorship. And this is prohibited according to the Federal Constitution. "If international pages were to be blocked, this would be an interference with economic freedom. Rickli has another suggestion: "One should also concessionarily hire foreign online providers. They would pay taxes. "

Balthasar Glättli, the Greens' National Council, also doubts the effectiveness of a network barrier: "This can easily be circumvented by amateurs," he says. He also spoke out for an open Internet.

«Current situation is unacceptable»

The Swiss Federal Gaming Commission (ESBK) would be responsible for implementing the network barrier. Speaker Maria Saraceni advocates this because the current situation is "unacceptable". Because the Internet gambling in the countries where the server is located is usually legal, the ESBK can not prosecute this.

Lawyer Simon Palzer confirms this: "As long as providers do not take action on Swiss territory, they act legally." Swiss players would not be punishable. "And obviously there is a great interest in playing online. It is logical that such a consumer need will always find his offer. » (Nxp)

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