Mr Green fined €312,500 by Dutch regulator over IP blocking
Operator rapped in first of its kind ruling by Dutch Gaming Authority
MRG subsidiary Mr Green has been fined €312,500 by the Dutch Gaming Authority (KSA) for failing to prevent Dutch players from gambling on its websites.
The operator has been fined after allegedly failing to use IP blocking technology under the so-called ‘prioritization’ criteria, under which international operators are obliged to block access to their websites by Dutch players.
Operators are subject to assessment by the KSA if they have a website which: features the Dutch language, uses a website with the .nl extension, uses Dutch in its advertising, uses typical Dutch terms or symbols (including windmills, clogs and tulips) and if their website uses the “usual” method of payment in Holland.
The KSA has since expanded this to include the use of domain names with typical Dutch-referencing concepts in combination with game of chance games (such as ‘clog bingo’, ‘social poker’ or ‘red-white-blue casino’) and operators which do not employ geolocation technology to block access to their sites by Dutch players.
In its defence, MRG has stated it complies with all other KSA criteria and that most egaming operators do not explicitly employ IP blocking to Dutch players. It has confirmed that it will appeal the decision.
The Dutch market represents around 6% of Mr Green’s group revenues and the operator has called its impact on profitability “insignificant”, with Q2 revenues from the Dutch market totalling SEK26m (£2.2m).
Fellow egaming operator Betsson was also recently fined under the prioritization criteria, under one of its subsidiaries, Corona Limited, over its websites krooncasino.com and oranjecasino.com, which were deemed to target Dutch citizens illegally. Betsson has also appealed against its fine.
Both enforcement actions place the operators’ future licence to operate in the Dutch market in doubt, after an earlier Dutch parliamentary motion which stated that “providers sanctioned at the opening of the market for remote games of chance are in no way eligible for a permit.”
No comment was made either by MRG or the KSA at the time of publication.