HomeGambling IndustryACMA warns two Curacao-based casino sites

ACMA warns two Curacao-based casino sites

LAWS AND REGULATIONS06 Jan 2025
3 min. read
ACMA

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has issued a warning against two Curacao-based casino sites, alleging that they have breached the country’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA), which effectively prohibits iGaming operations on the territory of the country.

ACMA names two Curacao companies in latest public warnings

The notice has been sent against Luster N.V. and Dama N.V. The operators have both been called out on offering online games of chance that are currently not regulated in Australia. In fact, the country only allows land-based casino-style gaming.

Concerning the case of Luster N.V., ACMA has named one specific brand presumably operated by the firm, to name Eddy Vegas. ACMA went further to outline the operator’s transgression, arguing that the brand had offered casino-style games of chance and skill.

In a statement, ACMA said: "The ACMA found that, as a provider of the Eddy Vegas service, Luster N.V. has contravened customers physically present in Australia."

DAMA N.V. has been targeted over a broader array of companies, including Rebellion Casino, MoonWin, Lucky Friends, Golden Star Casino, N1 Bet, and SpinsUP.

All of these services were found to similarly have provided local players with unlicensed forms of gambling, and specifically online games of chance. Similar to the previous case, ACMA outlined the transgressions as follows:

"The Service offered ‘gambling services,’ including casino-style games of chance or mixed chance and skill, played for money where the customer considered play the game (paragraph (e) of the definition of ‘gambling service’ in section 4 of the IGA)."

The warnings were issued in late 2024, but appeared on the regulator’s websites on January 2, 2025, and are part of a much broader crackdown the watchdog has taken against unlicensed gambling companies.

Australian gambling regulator not letting up in site blocking efforts

ACMA’s chiefest achievement has been to put together a comprehensive list of blocked companies that have been handed down an Internet Service Provider (ISP) ban, making it very difficult for them to target Australian citizens.

Although the efficiency of this measure has been brought into question repeatedly by skeptics, the fact is that ACMA has now successfully investigated and blocked 1,117 websites that it has deemed to be in breach of IGA.

The regulator started blocking offenders in November 2019 after first issuing a warning to companies, 220 of which withdrew willingly and mandated no further enforcement action on the part of the regulator.


Image credit: Unsplash.com

TOPICS: ACMACuracao
06 Jan 2025
3 min. read
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