The US finds ally anew with Italy who recently eneacted legislation that makes it illegal for any Italian Internet Service Provider (ISP) to allow connection to an offshore gaming site.

This law will affect over 600 online sites that the Italian Ministry of Economics and Finance have deemed are operating a gaming operation. The law went into effect on February 24th and could start a trend in other European nations as well.

The move angered many in the gaming community in Europe. The Italian Finance Act of 2006, as the law is known, is supposed to limit access to foreign wagering sites, something that the Remote Gambling Association says violates the free trade agreement between the nations of the European Union. The RGA is now starting action to attempt to counteract the actions of the Italian government.

Many in Europe are caught surprise by the approval of the law. People might have expected that actions like this would have been taken place in the US first and not in Europe where the multitude of online gaming and poker rooms advertise freely and trade on the major stock exchanges of the European financial world.