Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2007

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Finland shouldn't block poker rooms, says minister

By Erin Warner

Finnish Internet regulations aimed at blocking access to child pornography sites shouldn't be expanded to include online poker, the country's transport and communications minister said Tuesday.

In an interview with Finland's Keskisuomalainen newspaper, Susanna Huovinen was quoted as saying online gambling shouldn't be lumped in with current laws.

Huovinen was responding to the findings of a 2004 government-appointed gambling forum that recommended child pornography laws brought about in January apply to Internet poker.

The law would only come into play, Huovinen said, if the Lotteries Act banned online poker rooms.

"Child pornography is criminal material, which online poker is not," the minister told Keskisuomalainen. "I would rather tackle problems with information and education."

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