Game

Gambling, as Article 1 of the Law of April 6, 2010 on the regulation of online games shows, is not an ordinary sector left to the competition mechanism. Indeed, in the first place, it is the easy vector of illicit activities, mainly money laundering, and casinos have always been subject to licensing and supervision. Second, some games give rise to personal injury, whether it is inherently dangerous games or what can be done for players to increase their performance, for example by doping them. Third, the activity of gambling presents risks for those who engage in it, in particular that of incurring large sums without consideration and by going broke. It can be considered that this is a market risk that an adult has the right to run but the right of which must protect the weak, here minors. Finally, there is a risk of addiction, which is even stronger for them. France had so far tried to solve the problem by entrusting the monopoly of this activity to a public company, the Française des Jeux.

The CJEU by a judgment of September 8, 2009 confirmed, with regard to the Portuguese system, the legitimacy of such a step in the name of the imperious overriding public interest. But in the meantime, the European Commission has designed a liberalization directive, France having then chosen to regulate where it could no longer technically defend its legal monopoly system, that is to say Internet games. This is why the law of May 12, 2010 set up a regulator, ARJEL, which approves operators, imposes warnings for minors, monitors operations, prohibits certain bets, etc.