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A team of lawyers led by Riccardo Vizzini from Lucano is bringing a lawsuit against the state, accusing it of promoting a legalised scam – gambling.
“We see many reasons cited for divorce that are associated with money wasted on gambling,” says Vizzini. “It is the financial well-being of many families that is being ruined. The money from gambling goes to the state, and the provinces and regions pay the consequences”.
Vizzini is contesting advertising linked to gambling in particular, and the commercials that associate happiness with gambling: “These, if not actually misleading, do not mention the downside to gaming, warning consumers that, in addition to there being little chance of winning, most times the money invested in the hope of striking it rich will be hopelessly lost,” says the lawyer.
“The state,” he continues, “is committing a fraud through advertising that is deceiving those who play. At the same time one hears about both the crisis and about the millions being won. The crime lies in the misleading advertisements – they only talk about the gains and not about the harm.”
The lawyers led by Vizzini are asking for these downsides to be explained in advertisements for gaming, as is done already in tobacco advertising. But that’s not all. It would be a positive step, according to Vizzini, if players were only allowed to participate after presenting their health card or tax code in order to discourage gambling by minors, which is on the increase, especially in recent years.
Another topic to be confronted is online gaming. According to the Community Act of 2008, the state will issue 200 new gaming licences and take its own percentage of all the money gambled, “with the logical consequence of replenishing its coffers at the expense of the public, not protecting the savings of the latter and representing an active part in the formation of the phenomenon of pathological gambling”, says Vizzini.
Article 47 of Italy’s constitution, as interpreted by the Vizzini team, provides that the State should encourage and protect savings and indicate how they should be used – but through advertising which encourages gaming the state is violating this article, they say. In short, the state is going against the constitution and that is why it should be punished under article 640 of the penal code, which deals with “crimes concerning assets acquired by fraud”.
For example, says Vizzini, one need only consider the SuperEnalotto, where players select six numbers out of 90, but the probability of all six coming up is 1/622,614,630.
