Bet-at-home loses Belgium blacklisting appeal
Operator had claimed rights of free speech and free commerce had been violated.
Betclic Everest brand bet-at-home has lost its appeal against its inclusion on the Belgian Gaming Commission’s (BGC) blacklist of unlicensed operators.
The Malta and Schleswig-Holstein licensed company had argued that its blacklisting and associated internet service provider (ISP) blocks had violated its rights to free speech and free commerce in the EU Member State.
Philippe Vlaemminck, one of the lawyers representing the Belgian government in the proceedings, told eGaming Review “bet-at-home’s appeal was based on ecommerce legislation, which was found to apply to ISPs and not egaming operators, and the court told bet-at-home that even if ISPs have the rights claimed by bet-at-home, as a gambling operator it could not invoke the rights of an ISP.
“This shows that in order to fulfil the real priorities of consumer protection and creating fair market conditions in the EU, member states should be able to use the full potential of law enforcement on blacklisting, ISP blocks and so on,” Vlaemminck explained.
A number of internet service providers in Belgium signed a protocol with the country’s authorities upon the announcement of plans to bring in a blacklist in November 2011, and have agreed to impose blocks on unlicensed operators once alerted to illegal activity by the BGC.
So far 64 domains have been blacklisted, with the most recent including skill games operator Wataro and sports betting business betwingo.
Belgium is not the only country to blacklist operators or impose ISP blocks, with the Danish Gaming Authority ordering internet service provider 3 to block access to 12 unlicensed sites including bet-at-home.com.
Operators that wish to obtain a dot.be licence require a land-based presence or partnership with a land-based business. BGC representative Peter Naessens had earlier suggested there was room for a maximum of 10 sports betting licences in the jurisdiction.
At present seven domains have been approved for dot.be sports betting, including Unibet and Napoleon Games, while PokerStars and Groupe Partouche are among the licensees for poker and casino games.
Bet-at-home is the second operator to launch a legal challenge against its blacklisting and the second to emerge unsuccessful. Bwin.party’s bwin business lost an initial legal battle before launching an appeal which it later withdrew, pledging to pursue a licence in Belgium via an agreement with Partouche. The process over its removal from the blacklist and securing of a dot.be licence has already begun and is expected to be completed this year.
The bwin challenge was launched on different grounds to that of bet-at-home, with the London-listed operator pursuing a claim in the Belgian administrative court over its initial inclusion on the blacklist.
Vlaemminck said Altius had contacted the legal team of bet-at-home to establish whether the operator would be appealing the ruling, but was yet to receive a reply.
A spokesperson for bet-at-home told eGR “We are just analysing the ruling and will decide if an appeal will be launched next week.”