Internet Gambling and Marketing Law in Sweden
(2004)Department of Law
- Abstract
- Cross-border commerce involves problems not only in respect of Private Law but also within the field of Marketing Law. During the end of the year 2002 and during the year 2003, several messages by foreign betting companies could be seen in the Swedish press. Some had the message that the gambling monopoly should be stopped&semic others were more of the ''traditional'' marketing character. The National Gaming Board in Sweden has ruled some of them as statements influencing public opinion and therefore in the scope of the freedom of the press. That means, the campaigns are not regarded as commercial advertising and are not breaking any laws. Pre-conditions for the applicability of the Marketing Practices Act SFS 1995:450, The Marketing... (More)
- Cross-border commerce involves problems not only in respect of Private Law but also within the field of Marketing Law. During the end of the year 2002 and during the year 2003, several messages by foreign betting companies could be seen in the Swedish press. Some had the message that the gambling monopoly should be stopped&semic others were more of the ''traditional'' marketing character. The National Gaming Board in Sweden has ruled some of them as statements influencing public opinion and therefore in the scope of the freedom of the press. That means, the campaigns are not regarded as commercial advertising and are not breaking any laws. Pre-conditions for the applicability of the Marketing Practices Act SFS 1995:450, The Marketing Practices Act. (MPA) for legal steps to be taken concerning advertising are that the representation is of a commercial nature, meaning that the message is intended to promote a commercial transaction, and that it concerns the tradesman's goods or services. Prop. 1994/95:123, Ny Marknadsföringslag, p. 164. Other messages, concerning occurrences in society or statements influencing public opinion, which are included in advertising, fall outside the scope of the MPA and are otherwise regarded as coming into conflict with the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Ibid., p. 163. Sweden has a strong constitutional protection of freedom of speech and of the press. It is a fundamental principle in the Swedish lottery legislation, that private profit interests must not rule the lottery market. The market shall be reserved for the public or the use of the public. Consequently, Sweden has a gambling monopoly. In addition, there is a prohibition in The Swedish Lotteries Act SFS 1994:1000, The Lotteries Act, section 38. against promoting participation in lotteries arranged outside Sweden. This prohibition makes foreign betting companies create their ads like statements influencing public opinion or send their TV-commercials on channels transmitting from other countries, in order to circumvent the prohibition. The Swedish Government has established, that section 38 in The Lotteries Act is compatible with EC Law Prop. 1998/99:29, Kriminalisering av främjande av deltagande i lotterier som anordnats utom landet, p. 10 et seq. and Swedish courts have in previous cases found, that section 38 in The Lotteries Act is in full conformity with EC Law. In these judgements it has been settled that section 38 in the Lotteries Act is in conformity with articles 12, 49 and 50 EC or any other regulation in EC Law, The Administrative Court of Appeal in Stockholm's judgement September 12 2001 (case no 810-2000), three judgements by Göta Court of Appeal October 9 2001 (case B 864-99, B 241-00 and B 715-00). Recently, a preliminary ruling was given from The European Court of Justice (ECJ) C-243/01, Tribunale di Ascoli Piuno vs. Piergiorgio Gambelli and Others, November 6 2003. that might lead to changes of the Swedish monopoly situation. The ECJ ruling, together with its consequences for Sweden, will be discussed in Chapter 6. (Less)
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http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1561366
- author
- Påhlsson, Anna
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2004
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Marknadsrätt
- language
- English
- id
- 1561366
- date added to LUP
- 2010-03-08 15:55:28
- date last changed
- 2010-03-08 15:55:28
@misc{1561366,
abstract = {{Cross-border commerce involves problems not only in respect of Private Law but also within the field of Marketing Law. During the end of the year 2002 and during the year 2003, several messages by foreign betting companies could be seen in the Swedish press. Some had the message that the gambling monopoly should be stopped&semic others were more of the ''traditional'' marketing character. The National Gaming Board in Sweden has ruled some of them as statements influencing public opinion and therefore in the scope of the freedom of the press. That means, the campaigns are not regarded as commercial advertising and are not breaking any laws. Pre-conditions for the applicability of the Marketing Practices Act SFS 1995:450, The Marketing Practices Act. (MPA) for legal steps to be taken concerning advertising are that the representation is of a commercial nature, meaning that the message is intended to promote a commercial transaction, and that it concerns the tradesman's goods or services. Prop. 1994/95:123, Ny Marknadsföringslag, p. 164. Other messages, concerning occurrences in society or statements influencing public opinion, which are included in advertising, fall outside the scope of the MPA and are otherwise regarded as coming into conflict with the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Ibid., p. 163. Sweden has a strong constitutional protection of freedom of speech and of the press. It is a fundamental principle in the Swedish lottery legislation, that private profit interests must not rule the lottery market. The market shall be reserved for the public or the use of the public. Consequently, Sweden has a gambling monopoly. In addition, there is a prohibition in The Swedish Lotteries Act SFS 1994:1000, The Lotteries Act, section 38. against promoting participation in lotteries arranged outside Sweden. This prohibition makes foreign betting companies create their ads like statements influencing public opinion or send their TV-commercials on channels transmitting from other countries, in order to circumvent the prohibition. The Swedish Government has established, that section 38 in The Lotteries Act is compatible with EC Law Prop. 1998/99:29, Kriminalisering av främjande av deltagande i lotterier som anordnats utom landet, p. 10 et seq. and Swedish courts have in previous cases found, that section 38 in The Lotteries Act is in full conformity with EC Law. In these judgements it has been settled that section 38 in the Lotteries Act is in conformity with articles 12, 49 and 50 EC or any other regulation in EC Law, The Administrative Court of Appeal in Stockholm's judgement September 12 2001 (case no 810-2000), three judgements by Göta Court of Appeal October 9 2001 (case B 864-99, B 241-00 and B 715-00). Recently, a preliminary ruling was given from The European Court of Justice (ECJ) C-243/01, Tribunale di Ascoli Piuno vs. Piergiorgio Gambelli and Others, November 6 2003. that might lead to changes of the Swedish monopoly situation. The ECJ ruling, together with its consequences for Sweden, will be discussed in Chapter 6.}},
author = {{Påhlsson, Anna}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Internet Gambling and Marketing Law in Sweden}},
year = {{2004}},
}