Danish gambling regulator bans 49 illegal gambling sites

The Danish Gambling Authority or Spillemyndigheden restricted 49 websites that have been offering illegal gambling services to the country’s citizens. This is part of the regulator’s move to increase channelization into the regulated market and ensure that it remains committed to maintaining a safe and healthy overall gaming environment.

Much like the Australian Communications and Media Authority, Spillemyndigheden has focused on identifying and cutting access from the country to websites that have been deliberately targeting Danes although the services that have been doing so do not have a license from the watchdog.

"It is a very important task for the Danish Gambling Authority to ensure that Danes are not exposed to gambling that is offered illegally in Denmark and that does not comply with the requirements for consumer protection, among other things, set out in the gambling legislation," the regulator said in an official statement published on its own website.

Spillemyndigheden Director Anders Dorph has welcomed the latest efforts to ensure that the gambling market in the country operates up to the highest standards set out by the regulator. So far, the watchdog has been able to block 276 illegal websites with the first bans issued back in 2012 and continuing to this very day.

Essentially, the regulator is going after any website that has been offering illegal gambling products, although the good news is that the majority of bad actors have withdrawn voluntarily, and Denmark has had a very solid track record for channelization.

To ensure that it’s efficient in its fight against the illegal gambling sector, the watchdog has automated many of the searches it conducts to check if such sites are targeting Danes but has also relied on tips from businesses and consumers. The regulator usually tries to ask the service to shutter its targeting of people based in Denmark, which is one of the reasons why the list of blocked services is rather small.

If a service refuses to cooperate, then the authority reaches out to a court which determines if a stricter measure – such as an ISP ban – is in order. If a favorable ruling is achieved, the website is blocked and ISPs then implement the court order. The 49 websites blocked in the latest round have been offering a number of products, including 13 skin-betting gambling sites that use the cosmetic goods found in video games to perpetrate illegal games of chance.

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