Danish regulator secures new blow against illegal gambling sites

The Danish Gambling Authority has inflicted a new blow against the black market that continues to operate in the Nordic country and provide unauthorized products. The latest efforts to stem the tide of illegal gambling in the country come after Spillemyndigheden has been given a go-ahead by a court to block access to 83 websites in one fell swoop.

Usually, the process of blocking illegal gambling sites is more piecemeal, as shown by efforts to do the same by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Denmark, though, has chosen a more consolidated strategy that now allows it to bring the total number of sites that it has cut access to 359.

To arrive at a decision, however, the regulator needs to expend significant resources, ensuring that its decision is legal first and foremost. The regulator conducts investigations by looking for the websites themselves or working on public signals, and then has to secure the legal basis to enact a blocking order with the help of internet service providers.

Anders Dorph, Head of the Spillemyndigheden, has said that the regulator is now stepping up its efforts directed at restricting illegal gambling websites by first conducting two such blocking actions a year. Up until now, the regulator only issued its ban once a year, but this is about to change.

"Children and young people in particular are a vulnerable group. For instance, many of the illegal websites have very lenient requirements for age verification," a translated statement on the regulator’s website citing Dorph said.

The process tends to be long-winded, which allows illegal gambling companies to operate for fairly long periods before they are finally shuttered, or as is the case – denied access to a market. Such blocks are not always a preferred strategy, but as ACMA’s efforts have indicated, they have an incremental effect that builds up over time.

According to the regulator, the websites that were blocked in the latest sweep were all in breach of various gambling rules, offering skin betting and games of chances without a license, and hence in breach of the law.

The Danish Gambling Authority has been firmly committed to the task at hand. Meanwhile, the country’s Register of Voluntary Excluded Players, or ROFUS, usually experienced a small glitch that allowed blocked and excluded players to participate in games of chance.

Image credit: Unsplash.com