Italy will authorize 200 online gaming sites and will punish those that are not licensed

According to the Italian press, people will just be able to enter such websites through the site of Monopolios del Estado, and, at first, the executive will only allow 200 licenses.

All those who manage business of this kind without a license will face punishments of six months to three years of prison, but also users, whom might receive fines from 2,000 euros until 3 months of arrest.

Besides, it will be mandatory that Internet users who with to use these services open a “gaming account” in the chosen page, in which they will put the money they wish to play, winning or losing through this account. In case it is not used in a three-year period, the content of this account will pass to the public funds.

The bill will have to be approved by the senate, and includes the guidelines to choose one of the 200 concessions for gaming business and network betting. Among them, it is mandatory to have both hardware and software in a E.U. country; to operate through a society with a biannual turnover of 1,5 million euros or more; to guarantee the security of the searcher and pay a tax that, depending on the business, may reach the 350,000 euros.

This way, the executive aims to cause illegal gaming to emerge, and calculates that the increment of the state incomes derived from that measure will be more than 28 million euros. The budget office of the senate has already commented on that number, and has pointed that “it is not clear” how it has been obtained.