Mobile gambling 'will become legal across the whole of the EU'

Intralot's head of information security believes it is inevitable that all countries will agree on a legal framework for online gambling

It is inevitable that new types of mobile games that could incorporate gambling features will become legal across the European Union, according to Intralot's head of information security, Dr Christos Dimitriadis.

Intralot creates lottery systems and terminals and provides additional services to lottery companies. It currently does not have dealings with UK National Lottery operator Camelot, but it has a presence in 55 other countries across the world.

Speaking to Computing at ISACA Insights World Congress 2013 in Berlin, Dimitriadis explained that the company would be able to explore new business opportunities if mobile gaming became legal across the EU.

"The business model of combining mobile services and the cloud in the gaming sector is something that is very popular and is expanding," he said.

But at the moment, not all EU countries have made mobile gambling legal.

The European Commission last year drafted a comprehensive European framework for online gambling, and Dimitriadis believes that it is only a matter of time before all European countries will make mobile gambling legal, although he emphasised that regulatory changes in each country were determined by each member state.

"I think it will become legal. It has to happen because states have to control [gambling] from a responsibility perspective. If something is not regulated or controlled appropriately by law it wouldn't be positive," he said.

But the task is tougher in the EU than in the US, Dimitriadis said.

"To build new regulations [is hard] especially in Europe. In the US it is prohibited at the moment but there are a lot of discussions about changing this as well - there are a number of states that are looking into opening up the internet gambling market," he explained.