Dutch Minister confirms "blackout period" for illegal gambling operators

[The Buzz]

Existing gambling operators who have been operating in the country without a license and “actively” targeting Dutch players will be prohibited from operating in the country until they undergo a “cooling down” period, a Dutch minister clarified last week.

From PokerFuse:

The country is currently in the process of moving towards a liberalized gambling market that would open its market to international operators. After years of delays on the Remote Gambling Bill, the bill once again came into the limelight last week and appeared to generate sufficient support among the various coalitions of the government.

However, during the debate on Tuesday, senators requested that Sander Dekker, the Minister of Justice who advocated the RGA bill, provide clarification on various aspects of the bill such as the exact definition of an “illegal operator,” measures to control gambling advertising, and measures to block illegal sites.

On Friday, Justice Minister Dekker gave his written response to three specific questions demanded by the senators. Dekker was clear on his stance as far as illegal operators are concerned.

“[I]llegal gambling operators that will continue to actively target the Dutch market and recruiting players from the Dutch market, must be avoided,” wrote Dekker (translated by DLA piper).

Dekker even went on to call these operators “cowboys” and stating that they will not be eligible for a license when the country opens its license window.

“These are operators that e.g. use payment instruments such as iDeal, advertising aimed at the Netherlands or use a Dutch domain name,” Dekker continued.

Read the article here: https://pokerfuse.com/news/law-and-r...egal-gambling/

[Vargoso]

The "bad actor" clause.

[I]“llegal gambling operators that will continue to actively target the Dutch market and recruiting players from the Dutch market, must be avoided,” wrote Dekker (translated by DLA piper).

What if I just happen to receive Dutch players without targetting them, or not using a Dutch domain name?

[Cash Bonus]

I think It's going to be an exhausting and long process for the authorities to find and track down all of these illegal gambling operators. Not to mention how much they will spend on the whole operation to undertake it.

[ocreditor]

The "bad actor" clause.

What if I just happen to receive Dutch players without targetting them, or not using a Dutch domain name?

This is the real problem here, not only in the Netherlands by the way...

[gil.langelaan]

They were saying that fining illegal operators doesn't work just a month ago or so. I doubt they have the tools to fight these bad actors now either.

[e_abrams]

I don't get it, why refuse to give them licenses if they're not scammers?