A Danish court has blocked 49 websites from offering illegal gambling following a complaint from the country’s gambling authority.
Copenhagen City Court ruled in favour of Spillemyndigheden in all 49 cases heard during a session last month.
The blocked websites mainly offer traditional casino games such as roulette, slot machines, poker and betting. In total, 13 of the blocked domains are skinbetting websites. None of the domains would be considered household names.
“It is a very important task for the Gambling Authority to ensure that Danes are not exposed to games that are offered illegally in Denmark and that do not comply with the requirements for, among other things, consumer protection laid down in gambling legislation,” said Anders Dorph, Spillemyndigheden’s director.
“At the same time, we must ensure that the game providers who have a licence to offer games in Denmark can operate in the Danish market without unreasonable competition from providers who do not have to meet Danish requirements.”
Ramping up blocking efforts
It is illegal to offer games in Denmark without a licence from the Gambling Authority. The same applies if a foreign provider targets the Danish market by using the Danish language or displaying the Danish currency.
A total of 276 illegal sites have been blocked since 2012. The gambling authority said that in the future it will block illegal websites twice a year rather than annually.
“We are constantly trying to optimise our efforts against illegal gambling and one of our newest measures is, among other things, to block illegal websites more often than before,” continued Dorph.
“This means that the illegal sites are active in Denmark for a shorter period, as the time from when we identify them to when they are blocked is shortened.”
