Computer Says Non Monsieur

[apracing]

Here’s the text of an email sent by BF to account holders based in France :

As you may know, on 6th April 2010, the French government passed a bill related to online gaming which has been published in the "Journal Officiel" on the 13th May, 2010. This law will prevent us from operating our web site http://www.betfair.com in France.

As a result of this, we regret to inform you that you will not be able to access http://www.betfair.com and all other associated sites such as http://www.betfairpoker.com from the French territory from tomorrow. We are however currently reviewing the new regime, full details of which have yet to be published, and are considering whether to apply for any licences and will announce our plans in due course.

As an existing Betfair customer we advise you to contact our French helpdesk by email – france@betfair.com in order to claim the refund of your balance.

Betfair believes that as a European citizen you should have the right to chose with whom you bet online, and that the new French licensing regime is an infringement of your rights. For this reason we are a supporter of a campaign called Right2Bet. We invite you to join the campaign by visiting the website, http://www.right2bet.fr, to read more about this issue and voice your opinion to your local MP.

So if you have a holiday home in France, or are just going to France on holiday, no BF, as they are blocking access to all French based ISPs.

Does anybody know if this is likely to apply to other betting outlets – Betdaq for example, or the big bookmakers?

AP

[Irish Stamp]

I’d imagine if they don’t have a license then they will be blocked Alan – think at the moment Powers are the only firm who’ve applied (or are at least working in partnership with the Pari-Mutuel on Sports Betting).

Use the phone though – generally what I do when racing in France, can’t imagine they’d be too stringent on banning phone calls to international companies or at least know how to implement such a ban from a UK mobile phone.

[Never Nearer]

For anyone interested in the political side of racing Mark Davies’ blog http://markxdavies.blogspot.com/ makes fascinating reading.

As one of Betfair’s head honchos he’s clearly got a particular perspective on things yet he deals with matters openly.

He’s spoken about the French position several times, most recently here http://markxdavies.blogspot.com/2010/04/dunkirk.html

The simple fact is that we know, and customers know, that there are plenty of work-arounds for IP blocking, should people chose to use them; and without operator co-operation, the chances of the French government enforcing their legislation – short of sending the police randomly into people’s front rooms and catching them on their computers – is zero. Operator co-operation will only come from those with brand names to protect, so the law will shut out precisely the sort of company that ought naturally to be welcomed in.

Anyone else who wants a bit of the action in defiance of the French government has the playing field wide open, so the black market will flourish. By France’s own estimates, it already equates to around 5,000 sites, even before the addition of new rogue operators which are likely to pop up in the way that music file-sharing sites did when Napster first got banned.

You might say, "well he would say that", but it’s hard to argue with the nub of his argument. If EU legislation makes France open up to more firms it would make much more sense to welcome legitimate operations.

[robert99]

From the other more knowledgeable side of Betfair:

Betfair are to block all attempts to enter the site (not just login) from a French ISP.
If a customer was detected using a proxy server, that server would also be blocked.

Betdaq: The French authorities in particular have proven very eager to go to the courts with their issues and have been involved for many years with suit and counter suit against Ladbrokes for example.

Is it not more on the lines that Betfair cannot be bothered to apply for a legal permit from the regulator and do not want to pay any of the 8.8% tax nor risk future court action over their activities?

[Matron]

Robert,

What if you had remote access to your "PC" in the UK that is "on-line"?

Regards – Matron

[robert99]

Robert,

What if you had remote access to your "PC" in the UK that is "on-line"?

Regards – Matron

If you were using a French ISP to get on-line to reach your UK PC that connected on to Betfair then that would "technically" be "illegal" in Betfair’s seeming view of things. In practice, they may not give a dam what people do as long as they Betfair do not ever get into a situation where there is the slightest chance of "legal action" taken against them.

As with USA legislation, Betfair protect their own short term interests first and foremost. No fight, nor motivation at all on behalf of continuing to provide a service for their once loyal long term customers who actually fund their business.

[Matron]

I, presume that if you had an "iPhone" you could be in breach of the rules becuse the call is being routed via the French telecom system.

No, retiring to Provence then!

Regards – Matron

[TheBluesBrother]

Why don’t they just access Betfair using an anonymous proxy i.e change their IP address to a UK one etc, very simple to do.

[Author]

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