Danish regulator wins court approval to block 55 websites

Spillemyndigheden initially ordered the websites in question to halt operations in the country, but after they failed to do so, the regulator took the case to court.

During the hearing on 2 March, Spillemyndigheden was able to prove that all of the websites had been offering games in Denmark without a licence, and were therefore in breach of national regulations.

The court upheld the regulator’s decision and Spillemyndigheden has now begun the process of blocking the websites, thought the case could be subject to appeal.

Detailing the sites that had been blocked, the regulator split the brands into five groups: online casino; online casino and lottery; online casino and online betting; online casino, lottery and online betting; and skin betting.

Some 23 skin betting websites were ruled to be in breach of Danish regulations, including four sites operating under the Csgetto brand and four sites using the GGdrop name.

A further 22 sites offered online casino, including Easybet.com, Slotjoint.com and KingBillyCasino.com, while four sites operated online casino and lottery games.

A total of four sites including Dafabet and Justbet.co were also dedicated to online casino and online betting, while the other two – DF Bet and Casino Oziris – sites ran online casino, lottery and online betting.

“One of our most important tasks is to protect players from illegal gambling, at the same time, we must ensure that the providers who are licensed to offer games in Denmark can run their business under orderly conditions,” Spillemyndigheden director Anders Dorph said.

“The record high number clearly shows that there is a need for the targeted effort, and we will therefore maintain the increased focus in the future.”

The case represents the highest single incidence of blocking since the regulator began blocking illegal websites in 2012. To date, including the latest batch of sites, it has now blocked a total of 145 domains.