First application to the Civil Court of Ivrea of the Order of the Court of Cassation of 17 October 2023, which affirmed the assumption of the installation of free navigation computers with the possibility of connection by customers to the gaming portal, provided that it is a free and conscious choice. In the case of Ivrea, the operator, owner of PVR, had been drawn both from the criminal trial for the crime referred to in article 4 of law 401/89, and from the "Balduzzi" sanction. All this arose from an anonymous complaint from a customer who complained of having been denied payment of a winnings at the PVR itself.
The operator, assisted by lawyers Marco and Riccardo Ripamonti, both in criminal and civil proceedings, was acquitted in the criminal trial with the formula that the fact does not exist.
Subsequently, with the Sentence of 25 October 2023, the same operator also had the Balduzzi sanction annulled by the Court of Ivrea.
These in summary are the principles expressed by the Court of Ivrea in the civil sentence:
– there is no general ban on the installation of free navigation web stations;
– for sanctioning purposes it is necessary that the stations are actually intended for gaming and for this purpose it is not sufficient to enhance the fact that navigation is free (without filters) and that the room, performing PVR functions, appears internally and externally similar to a land-based betting room, with signs posted on the walls about the prohibition of access to minors and window stickers;
– the circumstance that the computers are in such a way as not to record the browsing history is neutral, as this is a method functional to the privacy of the players;
– in this case no pre-set navigation to gaming sites was detected.
On the basis of these arguments, the Court recalled the principles of legality and mandatory nature in administrative sanctioning matters, stating that any possibility of analogical extension remains excluded in the matter itself. On the basis of this assumption, the Court - accepting the arguments of the Ripamonti lawyers - stated that the Balduzzi sanctioning provision therefore requires effective proof of the fact that the operator has systematically used the computers specifically for online gaming . The Court added and reiterated that the Balduzzi sanctioning rule cannot be understood as a general prohibition on the use of equipment installed in public establishments that allow access to gaming platforms, nor can it be understood as a generic obligation on the manager to prevent such access.
To strengthen this approach, the Judge recalled a note from the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) with which the same Agency stated that the limit to the installation of free navigation computers at Internet points carrying out PVR functions is represented by the pre-setting to gaming portals or restricted navigation. Note produced by the defense. Finally, the Court of Ivrea recalled the recent interlocutory orders of the Court of Cassation and the principles referred to in them.
The lawyer Marco Ripamonti declared as follows: “This is a fair sentence that adheres to the provisions of the law which puts into practice a principle contemplated in the Ordinance of 17.10.2023 issued by the Court of Cassation, issued in a judgment in which we challenged a sentence of the Court of Appeal of Lecce, according which there would be an absolute ban on the installation of Web stations. We were certainly helped by the previous acquittal criminal ruling rendered by the same Court of Ivrea in favor of the owner of the PVR. It was a rather complex process in which the defender who handled the case entirely on my behalf, the lawyer. Riccardo Ripamonti dealt with a series of rather complex and not always immediately accessible topics, relating to remote gaming, such as the withdrawal request and the management of the gaming account. It all arose from an anonymous complaint, later deemed unfounded and unreliable".
