Swedish gambling regulator proposes measures operators can take to prevent unlicensed gaming
Spelinspektionen has presented a report outlining what it describes as practical measures that gambling companies themselves can introduce to block Swedish players.
Sweden.- The Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has presented a report to the government with new proposals on how online gambling companies without a Swedish licence should be able to prevent participation from Sweden. The move comes in light of proposals to amend the Swedish Gambling Act to change the definition of illegal gambling.
Investigator Marcus Isgren, who oversaw a review of gambling legislation last year, proposed in September that the Gambling Act be amended to remove the “so-called directional criterion”. Seen as a loophole by Spelinspektionen, this requirement states that only online gaming specifically aimed at the Swedish market is covered by the law.
This detail has led to enforcement challenges for the Swedish gambling regulator, which has found itself only able to take action against unlicensed operators if it can find evidence of them targeting Swedish players, for example, by using the Swedish language or listing Swedish krona as a payment method.
Isgren’s proposal is to replace this requirement with a new participant criterion: that gaming be considered to be provided in Sweden if people in the country can participate.
In defence of that argument, Spelinspektionen’s new report lists a number of measures that it says gambling companies themselves can introduce to effectively block Swedish players. It described the report as technology-neutral with the intention of giving the government a clear picture of the types of measures that can be used to reduce unlicensed gambling in Sweden.
In addition to geo-blocking, other technical barriers are proposed to block access from Sweden, such as stop messages. Access could also be denied if the user’s geographical location cannot be determined or if technical solutions are used to circumvent barriers, it said.
Meanwhile, Sweden should not be available to be selected as a country when registering an account, and registration should be denied if Swedish address details, postal code or telephone number (+46) are used. The regulator also proposes the blocking of bank transfers and card payments from institutions that requireSwedish e-ID as well as payments to Swedish bank accounts (IBAN with country code SE).
Terms of contract could also explicitly exclude persons in Sweden, while marketing channels that may lead to gambling from Sweden could be avoided, it said.
The Swedish regulator said the measures should be applied consistently and cover both new and existing gambling accounts. Terms of contract alone without technical barriers should not be considered sufficient, it said.
