SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
A Danish court in Næstved has ruled in favour of the Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden) over a decision to block 83 gambling websites blocked in the country.
This marks a total of 10 instances where Spillemyndigheden has gone to court over a similar issue as it ramps up its efforts to root out illegal gambling out of Denmark.
The Danish gambling market was partially opened up in 2012, paving the way for illegal betting and online casino providers into the country. Since then, the Danish Gambling Authority has blocked a total of 359 unlicensed operators.
Detection comes as a result of a stringent monitoring process where Spillemyndigheden uses a combined methodology of automated searches and accepting reports from citizens and businesses.
After an operator has been found to be in breach of local regulations, the Danish gambling watchdog requests them to cease operations. If the activity persists, Spillemyndigheden can then take the case to the district court and ask internet providers to block all access to the website.
Gambling services are considered illegal when they are unlicensed and aimed at Danish customers, meaning can either be viewed in Danish, support Danish currency or payment cards local to Denmark.
Anders Dorph, Director of Spillemyndigheden, sees a year ahead where the regulator doubles down on its hunt for illegal operators. He said: “We have intensified our work to shut down the illegal sites, so that we now get them blocked twice a year instead of once as previously.
“In this way, we can get hold of even more sites and minimise the period when Danish players are exposed to games that are offered illegally in Denmark.
“Children and young people in particular are a vulnerable group. For instance, many of the illegal websites have very lenient requirements for age verification. Some of the sites also offer games that particularly appeal to children and young people, such as skin betting.”
