Finns mull call for online casinos
30th January, 2008
A recent call by Finland's minister for culture and sport to liberalise online casino gambling laws has provoked a mixed reaction in the country.
Last week Stefan Willin said he supported the idea of the Finland's slot machine association - the catchily-named Raha-Automaattiyhdistys (RAY) - regulating domestic online gambling among its citizens.
Mr Willin said the country would benefit from the boost to tax revenues, which could be funnelled into public services and also ensuring all domestic online casinos are run in a socially-responsible manner.
Fellow minister at the department of social affairs and health, Kari Paaso, promptly gave his backing to that call, but other officials have expressed reservations about moving too quickly.
Matti Hokkanen, communications director for RAY, said that "launching the operation would not be without complications" - though he was careful to acknowledge apparent flaws in the current system.
While RAY has exclusive rights to operate all land-based casinos in the country, online gambling technically remains illegal and as a result many Finns are falling victim to foreign-based rogue operators.
