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The European Union in Brussels this week strongly condemned Norway's decision to make online gambling illegal in that Scandinavian nation.
The Norwegian parliament last week passed a proposal to ban financial transactions between Norweigan residents and online poker and Internet gambling sites, just as the US had done in October 2006. And like in the United States, Norway's Financial Services Association and its banking sector insists they are ill equipped to monitor such transactions.
Justification for the ban has been to protect Norwegian problem gamblers. But the gaming industry as well as the European Commission (EC) in Brussels strongly suspect that Norway instead is protecting their state gambling monopoly, Norske Tipping.
In the past, the EU has taken a tough stance against Norway's attempts to prohibit online gambling.
