ARJEL Directs Block of French Operators

April 23, 2011 | News Category: Gaming Law

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Not so long ago, ARJEL, the French gambling regulator requested that French ISPs (Internet Service Providers) block certain online gambling related websites. The thre online gambling websites have been filtered out after ARJEL complained to the French courts that the ISPs were not complying with their wishes.

The three sites have been named as Oddsmaker, Digibet, and a French sportsbetting site, Bet4Fight. ARJEL took their case to the Paris courts, along with a case the online gambling regulator has against the 5Dimes website, which is based in Costa Rica.

The Paris based website, Bet4Fight, which is hosted by the Internet Service Provider OVH, and has been operating in France. According to ARJEL, the Bet4Fight site is unlicensed, and therefore operating illegally. OVH, the ISP, could be liable for stiff penalties if it is proved that Bet4Fight is not licensed. The penalties can be as much as €100,000 per day that the ISP has allowed Bet4Fight to operate after ARJEL asked the company to block it. OVH, however, has said that they would prefer to wait for a judges decision before blocking, or filtering, the online sports betting site. The Internet Service Provider took this position when there were issues surrounding the Wikileaks case.

Bet4Fight may be in a different position because the company is a French company, however, Oddsmaker and Digibet are both foreign online gambling websites. Both Oddsmaker and Digibet have not responded to ARJEL when the regulating body contacted the online gambling operators regarding licensing. After this, ARJEL requested that the ISPs block the two sites, or run the risk of receiving penalties or fines of up to €10,000 each day that the sites are still available.

When the case against the bookmaker Stan James took place in 2010, and ARJEL wanted to have the British online bookmaker blocked by French ISPs, the court ruled in favor of ARJEL. At the time, ZDNet.fr reported that the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris had ordered the French ISPs to block the sites according to ARJEL's request. The court ruled that ISPs should "implement or cause to implement without delay all necessary measures to prevent access to from French territory and / or their customers in that territory."

The courts will be deciding the 5Dimes case later this month. Although 5Dimes is hosted in Costa Rica by ICE, the hosting company has said that they will follow whatever decision the French court hands down.