Dutch Target Affiliates Who Target Vulnerable: APCW Perspectives for 2 December 2022

[APCW]

Dutch Target Affiliates Who Target the Vulnerable

This week's news comes mostly from the Netherlands,
and it centers on action from the Dutch Gambling Authority.
First, they are investigating affiliate sites targeting vulnerable players.
And second, they have warned operators about certain types of bonus offers.
(Link to charity for Maria Florides below)

WATCH ON YOUTUBE



Charitable Donations for Maria Florides: https://www.gpwa.org/forum/charitabl...es-262698.html
New Edition of GPWA Times: https://www.gpwatimes.org/magazine/issue-54/
APCW Interviews Rewards Affiliates: https://www.gpwa.org/forum/apcw-inte...-a-262601.html
KSA & Affiliates Targeting the Vulnerable: https://igamingbusiness.com/legal-co...luded-players/
KSA & Cashback Bonuses: https://sbcnews.co.uk/marketing/2022...hback-bonuses/

[iGamingWriter]

I do think there's a certain irony in the Dutch government "

investigating affiliate sites targeting vulnerable players

" whilst Curacao has been a hotbed of operators cooperating with "casinos not on GAMSTOP" affiliates for years. Perhaps they should invest most of their efforts into investigating the Curacao licensing system.....

[Former Member 14]

Perhaps they should invest most of their efforts into investigating the Curacao licensing system.....

As I recall, a few years back now, accusations were brought up in the Dutch Parliament, about Curacao licensing etc., etc. It seemed to have legs BUT some where it faded into the background, or more so, was swept under the carpet, like, most contentious issues usually are. Gov., focused or not...

[iGamingWriter]

Every few years it comes up. The Curacao authorities promise their Dutch counterparts that they'll take measures to improve the licensing system. It trundles on without any real change just long enough to get forgotten about again.

I mean this is a regulatory system that does not even publish the licensing standards. So consumers can never know whether the operator is in line with the regulator's expectations.

[Triple7]

I do think there's a certain irony in the Dutch government "

investigating affiliate sites targeting vulnerable players

" whilst Curacao has been a hotbed of operators cooperating with "casinos not on GAMSTOP" affiliates for years. Perhaps they should invest most of their efforts into investigating the Curacao licensing system.....

Improving their licensing system is now a condition to get financial aid. Hence, Curacao must do something.

[iGamingWriter]

Hi Triple7,

I'm aware of that condition, but I've yet to see any practical changes actually occurring in Curacao.

For instance, a number of the Master License holders now require licensees to direct player complaints to a 3rd party ADR. However, they've not taken any steps to say which ADRs are acceptable or indeed required licensees to actually engage with the ADR. So we (functioning in my role as the ADR official for ThePOGG) have seen Curacao licensees building information about ThePOGG into the complaints section of their terms and conditions. Without ever speaking to us. And then just ignoring us whenever any complaints come in.

Likewise, the Master License holders have started providing license pages. But the don't provide any central register of who they license. And they ensure that every URL gets its own license page. And they block the licensing pages from being indexed in Google. These are all efforts to hide who's being issued licenses and which properties are related to each other.

These are the "improvements" that are being made and they are largely aesthetic in nature, undertaken for the purpose of being seen to "improve" and tick that box. The people directing the improvements are working explicitly to try and minimise any practical result for players.

It's the same people running the show that have always been running it. Until that changes there's not going to be any real improvement.

Duncan

[ocreditor]

Thanks for the news!