It has been repeated over and over, particularly by me, that prohibition is not nearly as useful a technique than regulation; especially when it comes to online casinos.  Yet still several nations attempt to ban online casinos.  Online casinos are still banned in the United States, though that will hopefully change in the next six month.

No, I do not expect the governments of the world to listen to me or even read my words.  But it is best to at least have it in writing so that when they realize their wrong I can at least say I told you so.  One thing I learned from grade school is that it is best to have some examples to back up your arguments when attempting to be persuasive.  I have given several, but my latest example has been sponsored by the good people of Germany.

Online casinos are banned in Germany, but that will not continue for much longer; at least not in a few states in the country.  Germany is currently operating under the State Treaty of Gaming which bans online casinos.  No big surprise but studies have revealed that the ban has been almost completely in effective. 

Over 2 million Germans are still gambling despite the supposed ban.  The state Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein has decided that when the treaty expires in 2011 they will drop it all together and move forward with regulating online casinos.  They have great incentive to follow this plan since further studies have shown that an open online gambling market will generate more revenue than the current monopoly being operated under the treaty.