The seminar "Games of Fortune in the Light of the Constitution" counted on its opening with the participation of attorney Trajano Ricardo Monteiro Ribeiro, Daniel Homem de Carvalho (former president of Loterj) and Luiz Carlos Prestes Filho , author of the book "Theory of Probabilities - in Gaming, Science and Public Policy" launched at the event. The meeting was mediated by Paulo Horn, a member of CDCON-OAB / RJ.
In the first part, the panel received the title of "The authoritarian rubbish in the face of the new constitutional order", when the guests made a very detailed analysis of the political issues that surround the theme.
"Every Brazilian is born, grows and lives with gaming and inexplicably Brazil lives the situation in which illegal gambling exists and is practiced intensely and do not legalize activities that create jobs," Trajano Ribeiro began, pointing out the contradictions that mark the country. Former president of Riotur -Rio de Janeiro tourism company-, he points to Las Vegas as a lobby against gambling in Brazil, saying that at the time when the casino mecca saw especially Rio de Janeiro, with all its tourist appeal more attractive than a desert in the middle of nowhere. "You can say it's conspiracy theory, but it's very doable. We were victims of this process," he analyzed at the beginning of the seminar. He criticized the Constitution of 1988, which defined the Union as the holder of the monopoly of gaming in Brazil, which did not allow activity and even strengthened clandestinity. "It is a terrible drama to live with clandestine gaming and to hear that it can not be regulated because it can provoke addiction. If this were so, we would stumble on drunks everywhere, because the drink is cool, "he said.
Daniel Homem de Carvalho, OAB adviser and former president of Loterj, addressed the legality of the activity in Brazil by saying that it is not forbidden except by political persecution of Janio Quadros, who directed the CEF to exploit the lotteries because he did not get financial support for his presidential campaign from a private operator. "We must offer a quality service to society, with adequate pay-out and attract investment under appropriate and modern regulation." For him, "the state is bad as a gaming service provider. It should offer free competition, opening up the initiative for operators with the capacity to offer services to all those interested and with resources aimed at the benefit of the whole society."
Prestes Filho, in turn, spoke of the authoritarian rubbish that existed until now, which passed through the Estado Novo, of Getúlio Vargas, for the violent period against Democrats in the Dutra government, and for the dictatorship of the military governments instituted with the 1964 coup. " The Dutra government wanted, in the 1940s, to block two threats, one financial and one political. The first, turned against the party of the former president Getúlio Vargas, who had revenues from casinos. And politics, in the fight against the Brazilian Communist Party. Look absurd: a government concerned with two such small and petty issues." In 1967, the same vision ended up causing the military dictatorship to "save the integrity of social life by prohibiting gaming that could harm national security. The readers of my book will be able to see all this clearly," he said.
After the initial presentation, Paulo Horn also spoke of the monopoly, "mistakenly seen by the Brazilian State, that having constitutionally the exclusive function of legislating on games, it decided to be the monopolist, not allowing other players and opening the sector. We can not say, for example, that gaming can not be legalized because we have no conditions to supervise. This is a very small view of the prosecutor, who has a very small vision that does not bring any contribution to the country, "he said.
In the second part, the focus was on "Panorama of legal and illegal gambling and mechanisms to avoid pathological gambling", which dealt with the regulation of the activity, which was mediated by Vânia Aieta, president of the Constitutional Law Commission of OAB / RJ, and was attended by Sérgio Ricardo de Almeida, president of Loterj, Magno José, president of the Legal Game Institute and Paulo Horn. "No one can explain clearly why a state lottery like Loterj, which invests in sports and so many welfare entities, has been so attacked and threatened with extinction. Only by social actions, Loterj should be exalted and not execrated, because it plays an important role that is not done by the federal government," explained de Almeida.
José Magno, of the IJL, said that the regulation of the activity four years ago was a prohibited subject in Brazil, but that with a lot of work and dedication, the time has come when new tentative models are reaching a denominator which can forever overturn the taboo about gambling, "because it's an industry that generates a lot of jobs and taxes." According to him, "we have one of the most lagging legislation on gaming around the world. The industry moves a lot of money, both in legality and clandestinity.”
In his evaluation, the potential is to raise US$ 18.25 billion, which could reach a taxation of US$ 5.25 billion per year. In addition, according to him, it would be possible to raise a further US$ 3 billion just for the licenses for the various games modalities under discussion. On pathology, he said that it is not an exclusive behavior of gaming.
In the final stage, under the title "The industry banning Fortuna games x The entertainment industry", the mediation was made by Paulo Horn, who introduced OAB / PR lawyer Marina Macedo Martynychen, who talked about the projects under discussion in the National Congress. According to her, the bills of the House and the Senate are somewhat different as regards the understanding of the two Houses on the legal nature of casinos. "The two projects delimit a question of macroeconomic policy for the country. In the Senate, they saw the casino only as an economic activity, but with the performance of Senator Benedito de Lira, they saw the casinos as a public service. In the House, the casino is viewed exclusively as an economic activity. The casino can not be seen as a public service, as it will not meet the constitutional requirements for this. It should be seen, yes, as an economic activity, of course with the regulation and supervision of the State," she explained.
Lawyer Roberto Carvalho Fernandes, of Able, presented the concept of lotteries, saying that it is not a game, but a prognostic contest. "The lottery is different from gambling because it does not presuppose an opponent because the purchase of a contest gives some the gain of a prize and to society the benefits generated by the application of funds collected. In a casino, there are bets among players or against the private operator, who seeks profit from a concession," he explained.
Finally, professor and lawyer Martinho Neves Miranda said that "it is an illegality to ban the activity of games. Although the prohibition has been present in Brazil since 1941, it is impossible to control, for example, who participates in betting, both in public places and on the Internet," he said, noting that the ban, as posed, undermines individual liberties and that the monopoly mentioned in the Constitution is only for the exclusivity exploitation of energetic matrices such as gas, oil, nuclear minerals etc, and this could not be taken to lotteries or even other gaming modalities.
Source: Exclusive GMB
