Dutch Lottery says enough is enough - goes after locally unlicensed opeartor

• The Dutch national lottery has targeted a third lottery operator in recent months with Skyhills
• An official demand has been issued to Skyhills, forcing the offshore website to go dark
• The Nederlandse Loterij is now set to begin proceedings against - Qbet

The Dutch national lottery, or Nederlandse Loterij, has taken legal action against an operator that has been offering games without the mandatory license in the Netherlands.

Nederlandse Loterij previously sent a cease-and-desist letter to Skyhills, and has now confirmed that the operator may no longer be accessed via Dutch IP, blocking access to its offer.

The national lottery knows exactly who the culprits are

Skyhills, which is an entity operating across Costa Rica, NorthMacedonia, and the United Kingdom, as well as Curaçao, Malta, and the Marshall Islands, does not hold a recognized Dutch license, thus making it illegal to operate locally. In a demand filed by the lottery, the Nederlandse Loterij claims that Skyhills proceeded to offer Dutch customers gaming options even though it was not licensed to do so.

Nederlandse Loterij argued that Skyhills had been targeting local customers, directing marketing messages at them in a bid to strengthen its pull locally int he country.

Skyhills would leverage social media messaging through platforms such as TikTok, and target younger audiences specifically, in a bid to convert them into paying customers.

The demand is meant to restrict the access of such operators, and ensure that they face consequences for their action. Enforcement is often a testy issue with local authorities in the Netherlands, as most offshore operators have no tangible assets in the country - or even the European Union.

This makes enforcement particularly challenging with most companies facing no immediate material losses that could force their hand into complying. This is not to say that an offshore company would not comply when petitioned by an official regulator, however.

Previously, the Dutch national lottery took action against Lalabet, and the lottery is similarly taking aim at another operator, Qbet, with its case yet to begin. Nederlandse Loterij CEO Arjan Blok.

Lottery set to take further action - urges politicians to pay attention to regulation

Blok noted that protecting Dutch consumers was of the utmost importance to the Nederlandse Loterij and that all measures would be taken to ensure that this is the case. The operation of companies without a license and offering games was simply unacceptable, the chief executive stated.

The lottery has used the announcement of the latest development surrounding Skyhills to also take on the current political situation and regulatory attempts to strengthen safeguards locally.

"At the same time, an advertising ban for legal online gambling providers is unwise.

Advertising opportunities in the Netherlands are already severely restricted. With the limited space available, providers can keep players with the legal offerings," Blok said, criticizing certain aspects of the current legislation that he saw as having sapped the competitiveness of legitimate market players.