The newly-fangled German gambling regulator, Glücksspielbehörde (GGL), is calling for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to assist the watchdog as it seeks to cut access to websites that have no official license to offer gambling products in the country. The move resembles what the Australian Communications and Media Authority is doing in a bid to curtail access of rogue operators to the market.
Whether GGL is successful in Germany remains to be seen. The regulator posted a detailed update on its website in which it described why the measure was necessary in the first place. Unlike ACMA, though, GGL hopes that it will be able to come to a voluntary arrangement with ISPs rather than seeking to seek broader legislative change to enforce the measure.
GGL argues that by collaborating, ISPs will be assisting the watchdog in protecting consumers and limiting the access of illegal gambling websites consumers. GGL said that this ban relies on voluntary collaboration and that operators are not obligated by law to carry out a request that the watchdog has put in with them.
However, GGL will explain the legal grounds on which it requests the suspension. These legal grounds may not always be clear though. In the case of Lottoland, GGL insists that the company should be blocked out of Germany, but the operator has struck back and said it would seek legal means to preserve its operations in the country. With a lack of clarity in some cases, ISPs may be much less inclined to back the regulator undermining its authority.
GGL is currently exploring its newfound powers in theGermany gambling industry. It’s looking into alternative measures, with the regulator able to strike offending parties with up to €500,000, referring to the operators deemed to be operating illegally, not the ISPs.
Germany’s State Treaty on Gambling or GlüNeuRStv is the latest re-regulation move in Germany and its most ambitious so far. However, they still make it hard for the new regulator to carry out such orders. For one, GGL said that it recognizes requests to block operators on an ISP level as encroaching on the rights of providers and users.
However, GGL emphasized that such requests are placed purely and solely for the benefit of those some consumers and providers as illegal gambling has a negative impact on society. Weighing the two, GGL has chosen to opt for a consolatory path that can help it achieve efficient results.
A similar measure has worked in Australia but there, ACMA is simply ordering the block, not negotiating with ISPs.
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