Blacklist of illegal gambling operators published by the French gambling authority
The gambling authority of France, l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has recently published a list of the names and domains of illegal gambling operators that are subject to blocking in the regulated gambling market of the country. The blacklist contains some known gambling brands, while the total number of domains is more than 500. Some of these domains are already banned, while the others will shortly be made unavailable via any source to French nationals.
The gambling authority of France, l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has recently published a list of the names and domains of illegal gambling operators.
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The remote gambling market went live almost 13 years ago in France under the regulation of l’Autorité Nationale de Régulation des Jeux en Ligne (ARJEL). A month after its launch, ARJEL sent out requests to unlicensed operators to cease their activity in France with immediate effect. In the initial months, the ARJEL did not issue fines to these operators but instead relied on the compliance of the French Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block the domains of all detected illegal operators. It was not an obligation for the nation’s ISPs to carry out this procedure. Hence there was hesitation among them. However, after a few days, the ISPs complied, and that is when the battle against illegal operators in France commenced. In June 2020, the French gambling regulatory responsibility was passed over to the ANJ.
The French gambling authority has always had a five-point responsibilities list since its establishment. Apart from battling illegal operators, the regulator is responsible for issuing gambling licenses and making sure that all licensed operators comply with the gambling laws of the nation. The ANJ works to ensure player safety by protecting minors and other vulnerable audiences from gambling activities and promotions whilst simultaneously fighting gambling addiction problems and identifying harmful gambling traits. Another battle the French regulator is actively involved in is the fight against fraud and money laundering activities. Land-based casinos have previously been called vulnerable to such illicit activities. Hence, the ANJ keeps a vigilant eye on the French gambling market
The licensing procedure for a gambling permit in almost all countries is quite strict. It involves a tedious application process, and a high license fee, followed by a strict paperwork check. Only after all the formalities are completed satisfactorily can an operator receive its French gambling license. After being active for almost 13 years, there are only 17 online operators in France that are licensed by the ANJ. La Francaise des Jeux is the country’s solitary lottery operator, holding the monopoly in that segment. Apart from these 17 legal operators, several unlicensed operators have made their sites illegally accessible to French gamblers. The battle between the French gambling authority and the unlicensed operators goes on as the regulator has revealed the list of sites that have already been banned or will be banned shortly.
The new blocking and delisting order
The French gambling authority received a significant boost in the fight against illegal operators after the President of the ANJ issued the first administrative order for blocking and delisting illegal operators in June last year. Aimed specifically at democratizing sport in the country, the law has strengthened the nation’s stance against all unlicensed operators that are trying to enter the regulated gambling market of France. Before the law was put into effect, the process of blocking domains owned by unlicensed operators was tedious. Under the previous law, the blocking and delisting illegal websites required four to six months, during which the magistrates of the Paris Court of Justice would study the case before the judge finally announced the decision to block that particular gambling operator.
The new law enables the President of the ANJ to contact the administrative judge directly and gain approval for blocking gambling sites that are either owned by unlicensed operators or are found violating the advertising laws of the country. The ANJ also disclosed the entire process of blocking illegal domains that will be followed by the regulator under the law. Upon detection, the operator of an illegal website will be sent a formal notice. If the operator fails to respond to this notice in five days and does not cease offering its services to the French players without a license, the ANJ can ask the ISPs to block the domain or ask search engines and digital directories to delist it. Since the law has been enacted, the ANJ has issued 152 blocking and delisting orders, and 532 illegal gambling domains have been blocked. The time required for this process under the new law has dropped from four to six months to one to two months.
ANJ publicizing blacklist to enhance player awareness and safety
Every licensed gambling operator in France has to follow norms to retain its gambling permit in the country. The norms are set forth by the ANJ, and as long as the regulator sees proper compliance of a gambling operator, its gambling license is safe. However, if any operator, knowingly or unknowingly, violates any gambling law, they will receive a formal warning from the regulator and could also be fined, depending on the severity of the breach. If the violation turns into a pattern, the ANJ has the right to suspend that operator’s license and add its name to the blacklist. The norms include a lot of sections, and one of them revolves around player safety. In this section, the gambling laws state measures for operators to implement in order to ensure the safety of French players and to protect them from excessive gambling.
When players gain access to a website owned by an unlicensed operator, that particular operator follows none of the country’s gambling directives. Hence, the player’s safety is compromised. In addition, the illegal operator could gain access to the user’s personal data and commit payment fraud. Viruses and malware could be passed onto the user’s device via such unregulated websites. At times, the website could just not pay the player their winnings, and the player could be left helpless because a legal recourse would be impossible since the gambling operator does not hold a valid license. Hence, gambling on illegal sites is dangerous around the globe. For players to identify the illegal gambling domains in France, the ANJ has published the blacklist, which will be updated every month, on its official website and also added a section showcasing the legal operators in the country.
