KSA warns 15 affiliate sites for advertising illegal online gaming
The Dutch gambling regulator said 13 of the sites could face penalties.
The Netherlands.- The Dutch gaming regulator de Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has issued cease-and-desist orders against 15 affiliate websites that it found were advertising illegal online gaming to Dutch players.
It carried out 22 investigations and identified 15 sites as breaching Dutch law.
It didn’t name the sites but said that 13 could face penalties if they don’t take action following the KSA’s warning and stopped advertising unlicensed operators. The two other sites are still being investigated.
The KSA carries out monitoring after issuing cease-and-desist orders to see if websites have halted their illegal activity. If a website continues to breach Dutch law, the KSA can issue a fine.
The regulator said: “Offering games of chance without a license is prohibited; the same applies to advertising games of chance that are not licensed. With affiliate marketing, sites receive money when they click through to the online game of chance and the KSA periodically conducts research into these advertisers.”
The news comes after a report delivered to the Dutch parliament by minister for legal protection Sander Dekker claimed significant success for the Netherland’s action against unlicensed online gambling since the country’s newly regulated igaming market launched at the start of October.
The report showed that traffic to unlicensed gambling sites fell dramatically after the government adopted a stricter position, ordering all unlicensed gambling operators to stop passively accepting bets from Dutch customers.
KSA appoints self-exclusion advisors
Meanwhile, KSA has appointed three external advisors to supervise the national self-exclusion system Centraal Register Uitsluiting Kansspelen (Cruks).
It’s named Bas Brons, Mieke Hoste and Marcel Marijnissen to advise on the system, which allows consumers to self-exclude from gambling but also allows licensed operators to request the involuntary exclusion of a player.
Brons, a counsellor and mental health care professional specialising in gambling addiction treatment, works for the Solutions-S Centre for Addiction Care. Hoste is a licensed clinical psychologist with experience at Hart Hospital, Tienen, and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, in Belgium.
Marijnissen is an addiction specialist and chief medical officer at the Hervitas addiction treatment centre in Zeist.
See also: The Netherlands issues 11th online gambling licence
