Norway blocks 57 gambling sites as it beefs up player protections

• Norway’s gambling regulator shutters access to 57 gambling sites
• The regulator reminds that there are only two licensed gambling sites in Norway
• The country is among the last to refuse to switch to a multi-license model in Europe

Norway has issued blocking orders against 57 gambling websites that operated in the country without the necessary license from the state regulator, Lotteritilsynet.

Norway goes after individual black market websites

Currently, Norway is one of the few countries in Europe that maintains a state-backed monopoly on gambling, allowing only two state-controlled companies to operate legally. Players who wish to play legally may do so through the Norsk Rikstoto and Norsk Tipping websites and domains.

To further enhance player protection, Norway has now turned to the "DNS blocking" measure, which should prohibit the targeted websites from accessing the country or offering their products to local players.

The technique is used to make it impossible for users to connect to a website by blocking the server’s ability to connect to a designated IP address. Although Norway has so far refrained from naming the websites involved, they were all providing illegal services, the watchdog insisted.

Lotteritilsynet legal counsel, Silje Sægrov Amble has argued that the blockings were issued against websites that purposefully sought to harm players. According to Amble, these websites sought to "get players hooked" and offered no consumer protection in turn.

In the meantime, though, nearly all countries in Europe have switched to a multi-license-based model. In other words, states have decided that it is far better to allow private companies to run the market than to try to introduce a state monopoly.

Competition makes for better variety, the argument goes, meaning that more players choose to play with licensed websites. Conversely, by holding a state monopoly, players are more likely to slip and play at offshore and illegal gambling websites with serious ramifications for their well-being.

State monopoly or a multi-license market: what is it going to be?

Finland is making the switch to a multi-license market in 2026, for example, as the country, too found it more likely for the liberalization of gambling to act against the black market. By one estimate, 50% of Finnish players are already involved with offshore websites.

Lotteritilsynet is, for the time being, walking down a different path where it will try to act on a case-by-case basis against the black market in a move resembling what the Australian Communications and Media Authority is attempting as well.

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