Gambling is a legal, governmentally regulated activity in France.  While not as diverse or large as Las Vegas, for instance, the French casino gambling industry has apparently produced a monopoly gambling company by the name of La Francaise des Jeux.  According to a recent court case filed by The Association of Modern Casinos in France, La Francaise des Jeux is abusing its powerful position as the most popular and influential casinos in France.

According to the complaint, which was filed with the European Commission and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, La Francaise des Jeux (FDJ) is enabling underage online casino gambling through their website, which does not directly prohibit site visitors under the age of eighteen.  FDJ defended itself by stating their website will not permit anyone under the age of eighteen to gamble.  However, the fact remains that underage visitors are not directly barred from visiting the site.

A summary judgment was issued by the court in early April of this year, which pointed out that the FDJ's website encourages all visitors to their site to participate in casino gambling, which in turn, is indirectly prompting underage visitors to do the same.  The Casino Association understandably helped to fuel this judgment by citing in their complaint that according to Decree No. 2006-174, the FDJ is obligated by law to be watchful not to prompt site visitors under the age of sixteen to gamble online.

Now, a court ruling has ordered the FDJ to cease publishing a press release of the April summary judgment for six months.  It is the court's belief that people under the age of eighteen may be misled by the release, consequently favoring the FDJ in their resistance and objection to the order.  In regards to challenging the monopolistic nature of the FDJ, it will take a year before the Conseil d'Etat will give a ruling.  In the meantime, the FDJ will have its hands full with not only the Association of Modern Casinos in France, but with French businessman, Robert Riblet, who says he has evidence the FDJ was issuing non-random lottery cards.