German gambling regulator dismisses impact of court decision on ability to block unlicensed sites
The Federal Administrative Court has ruled that gambling legislation does not grant the power to order internet providers to block gambling sites.
Germany.- The Federal Administrative Court has confirmed the view that Germany’s 2021 Interstate Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV 2021) does not grant powers to order internet access providers to block gambling websites. The court upheld a previous decision made by the Higher Administrative Court of Koblenz.
The decision means that Article 9(1) of the federal gambling legislation cannot be used legal grounds to for P blocking via access providers. However, the German gambling regulator, the GGL, said the decision will not affect its current enforcement strategy since it now directs orders to hosting providers not IP services.
While this strategy is more resourve-intensive, the GGL says the approach has allowed it to block access to more than 930 domains to date. It says it’s adding around 60 new domains to the blacklist each month. It says it follows up on cases where unlicensed operators move to new hosting providers.
The regulator has reiterated its call for legislation to be amended to allow it to also block illegal gambling advertising.
Regulated gambling operators in Germany remain concerned about the size of the gambling blackmarket in the country. Last month, Tipico, the biggest regulated operator, announced the creation of a Trusted Partner Programme, under which it aims to make sure that its game suppliers are not involved in supplying unlicensed operators.
Under the new initiative, Tipico will conduct checks to verify that all game suppliers are aligned with its Trusted Partner commitment and that the games it offers in the German market are licensed only to regulated operators. Game manufacturers already listed as part of the program are: Apparat, Games Global, Greentube, Hölle Games, MERKUR, Play’n GO, SYNOT and ZEAL.
