The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), gaming regulator for the Netherlands, has issued a €350,000 fine to CyberRock Entertainment NV and Honeydew Trading Limited for illegally offering games of chance.
The Curaҫao and Cyprus headquartered organisations were found to have been offering online games of chance to the nation’s consumers via various websites, chiefly its play2wincasino.com and supremeplay.com entity’s, which were found to be almost entirely in Dutch.
Amongst the other sites operated, Honeydew, who works alongside its sole shareholder CyberRock, was discovered to change language from English to Dutch after logging in with a player account.
In a media release detailing the fine, the KSA stressed: “Online games of chance are not allowed under current legislation. Foreign providers of online games of chance must respect Dutch law.
“For example, they can adjust the settings of their websites so that they can not be seen with Dutch IP addresses. In enforcing the law, the Ksa focuses primarily on suppliers who focus on the Dutch consumer.”
Emphasising that the approach to illegal gambling is one of the main priorities of the Government agenda, René Jansen, chairman of the board of directors of the Ksa, added: ‘Many Dutch people do not know that online gambling in the Netherlands is illegal.
“Protecting consumers is an important objective of the Ksa, in addition to preventing gambling addiction and combating illegality.
“Gambling with an illegal provider implies that the consumer is not protected. He is not sure of a fair game. There is also no control of participation by vulnerable groups, such as minors.”
Just last month Jan Suyver, the outgoing chairman of the KSA, spoke of his frustration at the ongoing and repeated delays to the regulation of online gambling in the Netherlands.
“The Netherlands is almost the last country in Europe that has not regulated the online gambling market,” he said.
“Everywhere I meet my fellow gambling authorities it is arranged. In Bucharest, in Prague… abroad they do not understand that the law is still not there [in the Netherlands].”
