Cloudflare to assist Dutch gambling regulator in tackling illegal providers
Under the terms of the agreement, Cloudflare will provide information to help identify those offering unlicensed services in the Netherlands. The Kansspelautoriteit Gaming Authority (KSA) can now actively question Cloudflare in its investigations to provide more information about the hosting parties behind illegal gambling providers.
“The information provided by Cloudflare can therefore be useful for the KSA’s investigations, with the aim of putting an end to the illegal supply,” the KSA said in a statement.
How Cloudflare will assist
The partnership comes after the KSA imposed and then withdrew an order against Cloudflare to cease providing services to two illegal gambling services providers.
Cloudflare was initially told to stop assisting the illegal affiliate websites NederlandsCasinos.net and OnlineCasinosSpelen.com following a KSA investigation. However, deliberations between the two revealed that Cloudflare could not unilaterally block the two operators.
KSA added: “It became clear that Cloudflare itself cannot take measures to end the violation, but can provide information that can help. That is why the binding instructions have been withdrawn and agreements have been made to combat illegal supply.
“It is prohibited to offer games of chance in the Netherlands without a licence from the KSA. Promoting illegal gambling is also not permitted under the Gambling Act.
“To combat illegal offers, the KSA takes various measures, for example erecting barriers at payment providers or internet providers. By ensuring that these intermediaries no longer offer their services to illegal providers, illegal offerings are made more difficult or possibly even stopped altogether.”
Dutch market’s channelisation success
Earlier this week, KSA’s sixth monitoring report on Dutch online gambling revealed that some 90% of players only gamble via legal websites. This is way above the channelisation target of 80%.
The reports showed gross gaming revenue (GGR) of €1.39bn for the year to 31 December 2023. This was up 28% compared to the same period in 2022. However, in the last six months the GGR increased just slightly by 1% compared to the first half of the year.
In March 2024, KSA issued its largest ever fine of €19.6m (£16.8m/$21.2m) to Gammix Limited for offering games without a licence.
In June 2022, Gammix was ordered to leave the Dutch market or risk paying €1.4m in weekly fines. The following March, the KSA ordered Gammix to pay €4.4m for not complying with an order to stop operating in the Netherlands.
This latest fine is related to these two previous orders, with the KSA noting that Gammix “has not taken any measures to ban players from the Netherlands”.