Israeli ISPs Comply for Now

August 21, 2010 | News Category: Gaming Law

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After the Israeli Internet Service Providers were instructed by the police to block a number of online gambling websites, it was unclear as to whether the ISPs would follow the directives or not.

The Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz has reported that at this time, two more of the country’s ISPs have been served with the same orders, to block a number of online gambling sites.

Although it is expected that these orders will be challenged in court at some time in the future, but for now, the Internet Service Providers, or at least some of them, have said that they will comply with the orders. If the ISPs or their operators are in fact planning to challenge this police order, nothing has yet been done about it, and no complaints have yet been lodged with the courts.

012 Smile already began following the directive, but some of the ISPs had asked the police for some breathing space, and some extra time in order to consider the orders that were given to them, partially because they needed to figure out the best way to block the sites, and also to seek legal counsel. It now seems that some other ISPs, namely 013 Netvision, and Bezeq International, who have also been served with the same orders are beginning to comply with them. 013 Netvision has publicly announced that they will in fact comply with the order to block the websites that were on the list given to them by the police.

Although the ISPs seem to be complying, the newspaper, Ha’aretz has reported that the directives they received are not the regular practice that takes place in other Western countries, and anger over this police directive is certainly growing.

"From the legal research that we have conducted,” said one ISP, “the police are relying on a section of the penal code from which it is very clear that the legislature's intent pertained to physical gambling locations.”

The ISP spokesperson continued to say: “Even if someone interprets the law to apply to virtual gambling locations, the law provides for shutting the place down, but not barring access to it."

It is not only in Israel that the lawmakers have tried to take action such as this. Other countries, such as France, Australia, and Norway, have also dealt with attempted censorship such as this.

At this time, it is a waiting game to see how the situation will pan out.