Generally speaking, governments have been opting for that approach to prevent unlicensed online gambling operators from servicing players from their respective jurisdictions.
“ISP blocking has been a tool commonly deployed as part of the regulation process of one European iGaming market or another”
Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic regulated their markets relatively recently. And all three decided that engaging local ISPs into blocking unlicensed operators would help in the general improvement of their regulated iGaming environments. (READ SO: SLOVAKIA WILL BAN COMPLETELY THE INDUSTRY)
ISPs are now waiting for a judicial order to proceed with the planned blocking. Violators who are found to have circumvented the prohibition could face fines of up to €500,000.
Although it might be a bit too early to assess the newly regulated markets of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia too accurately, all three jurisdictions have failed to attract great attention among international operators.
Unnecessary bureaucracy and unnecessarily high taxes have affected the three markets’ lure for foreign investment, factors that will eventually affect their growth. (READ SO: POLAND CRACK DOWN ALL ONLINE GAMBLING SITES UNTIL THEY GET LICENSED)
