Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia have introduced IPS blockings in order to prevent unlicensed online bookmakers from providing betting services to their residents.
The fine for the violators is considered exceedingly high, reaching as much as €500,000.
What Does the Current Situation Look Like?
These three countries believe that using IPS would help them monitor their iGaming environments in a better way .
However, according to sources, ISP blockings bring with them “significant gaps” as it is relatively easy for bettors to access blocked operators, meaning that this measure will not have the expected effectiveness.
At this time, Czech Republic regulated the online gambling market in January 2017 and uses IPS blocking since July. Transparency International organization has strongly criticized the country, for having failed to block 25 unlicensed operators. Czech officials have committed to take further action.
In Poland, the Ministry of Finance has placed nearly 1,000 domains in the blacklist. We could say that the polish market is the most strictly monitored one, in the Eastern European battle against unlicensed operators. Finally, Slovakia insists that the market will be improved through blocking IPS. Sources refer that before the end of the current month (July), the Ministry of Finance will release a list that will result to the blocking of 16 bookmakers including some significant brand names such as William Hill, GVC and 888.