Online gamblers have been able to play their favorite casino games from the comfort of their own home for years in Cyprus, but that was set to come to an end in 2011. On Tuesday, those gamblers received a reprieve as the island has delayed the proposed ban until at least the middle of March.

Originally, Cyprus sought input from the European Commission on whether or not they could move forward with the ban. Online gambling prohibition is frowned upon by the EC because in most cases the ban affects International commerce laws. Cyprus was looking to follow the lead of Portugal in enacting the ban.

Portugal circumvented the European Union agreements by claiming that the ban was necessary because of the high risk of crime in the country. Cyprus has appealed to the EC using a similar approach, and the input was supposed to come back from the Commission by last Tuesday. Now that input will not arrive until March 14th.

The Commission will be making their determination after considering several different factors. Included in the decision making process will be discussions with other EU members. The feedback from those discussions will go a long way in determining how the Commission rules on the matter.

The ruling will be of interest to many countries that have attempted to ban Internet gambling in the past. If Cyprus becomes the second territory to win the right to a ban by citing the fear of criminal behavior, other countries may start to use that strategy as well.

The US remains the largest online gambling market in the world despite their government's efforts to prohibit the activity. The World Trade Organization already has a ruling on the books against the US when dealing with their online gambling laws. Antigua and Barbuda are owed millions of dollars from the US and the two sides have been negotiating a settlement for over a year.

Source: Cyprus-Mail