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Australia’s ACMA to Boot 8 More Offshore Online Gambling Sites
By Jeff Osienya Aug 19, 2020 IndustryEight more online gambling sites will soon be expelled from the Australian market after being found guilty of withholding payouts and treating players poorly. 92 websites have been ousted from Australia since November last year.The ACMA, short for the Australian Communications and Media Authority has announced that it will be forwarding a request to local ISPs (internet service providers) to start blocking access to several offshore online gambling websites as they were deemed illegal for malpractices.
After the thorough investigation of a range of misconduct allegations, a total of 8 offshore gambling websites that serve the Australian market are on the chopping block. The now illegal gambling platforms that will be barred from serving Aussie players are as follows;
- Royal Spinz Casino (royalspinz.com)
- Times Square Casino (timessquarecasino.com)
- Enzo Casino (enzocasino.com)
- Spintropolis Casino (spintropolis.com)
- Reeltastic Casino (reeltastic.com)
- Nordiccasino (nordicasino.com)
- Acepokies Casino (acepokies.com)
- Planet 7 Oz Casino (planet7oz.com)
Part of the ACMA’s mandate in Australia is oversight of businesses that offer services via the internet to the locals and that includes offshore online casinos. For effective management and handling of regulatory breaches, the media and communications body has a complaints hotline where Australian residents can share their grievances and from there the ACMA can take necessary action.
For the case of online casinos, should the ACMA find fault in how the operators are offering services, it can’t directly block the URLs of the culprits, but rather sends a formal request to the region’s ISPs to block the websites.
Which Regulations Did the Perpetrators Breach?
From follow up investigations, the mass media ombudsman discovered that the 8 operators that are being kicked out of the Australian market had acted against the regulations of the Australian Interactive Gambling Act of 2001. For an undisclosed period, patrons of the online casinos under fire had vehemently complained of poor and unfair treatment on the platform, to an extent where some players’ winnings were withheld without a valid reason.
Exercising its legal authority under the Telecommunications Act, section 313, the regulator will now ask for the blocking of the said websites to prevent them from unfairly treating Australian consumers any longer. However, before the online gambling websites are barred completely from existing in Australia’s online gaming expanse, the ACMA has advised current customers to withdraw all their money right away, before local ISPs block their access.
After the websites cease to exist in the Australian market, potential players who try to visit the offshore gambling websites will be met with a pop-up message from ACMA that will offer more information about why access is denied. On top of that, the message also redirects the player to ACMA’s official website for more information where a selection of certified alternatives consisting of all licensed platforms that the gambler can access instead.
The ACMA Continues its Crackdown on Non-Compliant Offshore Sites
The latest slew of blocking requests comes only a month after 11 other websites were sent packing. The affected gambling websites at that time were Sloticca, Xpokies, Fruits 4 Real, Omni Slots, JokaRoom, Bondi Bet, Box 24 Casino, Rich Casino, Kahuna Casino, Mucho Vegas Casino, and Happy Hugo.
Before July, the statutory body led to the barring of a group of 10 offshore online casino sites in May. The platforms that were submitted to ISPs for URL banning in May were Wild Joker, Red Dog Casino, Slots Empire, Cherry Gold Casino, BoVegas, Two Up Casino, Free Spin Casino, True Blue Casino, Raging Bull Casino, and Grand Fortune Casino.
The unwavering action from ACMA in 2020 started early in January when 9 non-compliant online gambling sites were axed from Australia. The nine sites there were submitted for blocking were Xbet, Top Bet, AU Slots, Casino Dingo, Ignition Casino, Joe Fortune Casino, Wager Beat, GW Casino, Roo Casino. Counting the 8 that are currently in the spotlight, this brings 2020’s total to 38 blocked gambling websites.
Since November 2019, when the first blocking request was made by the ACMA, a total of 92 online gambling websites have been booted out of the regulated Australian market. After announcing that it would be submitting the 8 websites to ISPs this week, the ACMA recapped its resolve to give marching orders to any offshore online gambling websites in Australia that act against the state’s Interactive Gambling Act. According to the mass media ombudsman, over 100 illegal online gambling operators have also withdrawn from the Australian market after new illegal offshore gambling regulations were enacted in 2017.
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