Gambling in ancient times
From antiquity, through the Middle Ages, to modern times, gambling has always had a difficult time in society. Archaeological finds suggest that games of this type had already taken place around 3,000 BC. Whether ancient writings, Greek mythology or Roman antiquity, evidence of early gambling can be found everywhere.
However, even in Roman times, this type of leisure activity - although represented in all strata of society - was punished with harsh punishments, and even in Germany the legal situation for the protection of citizens had for a long time placed a ban that would not make state gambling illegal .
Gray zone online casino law
Regulating stationary casinos is one thing, but quite another how to deal with the online offer. Providing the service over the Internet means that operators are no longer bound to national borders. Would the use of the offer of a foreign provider via the Internet mean directly committing a crime?
In many cases, foreign providers have licenses and concessions from their home country and are regulated by the relevant competent authorities. Nevertheless, they are not German licenses and according to many courts, foreign online casinos also fall under Section 284 of the Criminal Code.
This is criticized by the EU, which insists on the freedom to provide services as one of the basic pillars of the European Union and has already brought about a revision of the contract through a lawsuit. So far, however, there has been no satisfactory solution. It can therefore be assumed that online gambling is still prohibited and punishable without a German license.
Online casino law in practice
It's actually illegal, but thousands of Germans still have access to and use online casinos. And yet you hardly ever hear of online casino users being convicted. This fact alone shows that the current regulation in the casino area is an unsustainable condition .
In the case of mere participation, judicial convictions almost never occur in practice. In the rare cases in which investigations are carried out, these are usually quickly discontinued due to the low level of guilt .
In January 2015, a 25-year-old painter from Munich learned that it can still have consequences. 스포츠토토 The bottom line was that the 25-year-old won around 80,000 euros at blackjack on the platform of a provider based in Gibraltar. When the investigators found out about him, around EUR 63,000 of the profit could still be seized and confiscated. After the judgment of the Munich district court , which additionally fined the painter a fine of EUR 2100 for participating in unauthorized gambling, the money was gone forever.
