French gambling regulator publishes website blacklist

The ANJ has listed the gambling websites that it has issued blocking orders against.

France.- L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) has published a blacklist of 532 gambling websites that it has been subject to blocking and delisting orders. It says it will update the list every month as new orders are issued.

The ANJ gained powers to block unlicensed gambling sites and sites that advertise them a year ago. It issued 152 blocking orders since the first order in June and has listed 532 URLs including sites belonging to the brands Campeonbet, Casinoextra, Dublinbet, Kahuna Casino, Winmachance, MyStake, WinUnique, VegasPlus and YBet.

The regulator says it’s improved its procedure for blocking such sites in order to take action more quickly. It says that a process that used to take between four and six months now takes between one and two. This is because the ANJ previously had to wait for judicial approval for a block on access.

Now if a formal notice sent to the site’s publisher and host is not answered for five days and the operator does not stop business, the ANJ may contact ISPs to take the relevant action to block access.

The ANJ said: “When a French consumer plays on an illegal website, it exposes you to multiple risks such as the unauthorised collection of personal data, payment fraud, installation of malicious computer programs, non-payment of winnings and the absence of measures to prevent excessive gambling and underage gambling. The ANJ also suggests that players report illegal gambling sites to the regulator.” 

ANJ tells gambling operators to reduce GGR from “problematic players”

Meanwhile, the ANJ has told operators to make it a priority to reduce the share of gross gaming revenue (GGR) that comes from “problematic players”. It issued the order after reviewing operators’ action plans to prevent excessive or pathological gambling.

It aims to substantially reduce the percentage of GGR that problematic gambling accounts for and has told operators to “implement concrete actions and best practices to promote a recreational model”. Operators will be expected to show “measurable results on actions undertaken”.