Communicated Content – With the expansion of online gambling across the globe, a lot of countries have made the decision to legalize such activities for their residents. In some cases, a country’s residents will be limited to using online gambling sites that are licensed and regulated in other countries. In other countries like Sweden, and Denmark, the decision was made to allow for the development of an actual online gambling infrastructure. What is an online gambling infrastructure?
When a country makes the decision to develop its own online gambling infrastructure, they need three things. They need online gambling operators located in the country, online gamblers, and a way to regulate everything. The reasoning behind taking this approach is it gives a particular country’s government the ability to monitor and control the country’s online gambling activities. It also gives them a way to set regulations that will protect their citizens from rogue operators.
Online Gambling Regulatory Bodies in Europe
For decades, the UK served as Europe’s primary hub for online gambling. In the minds of countries that allowed their residents to use UK online gambling sites, there was an expectation that the UK Gambling Commission would serve as Europe’s online gambling police. They accepted that role and went forward developing guidelines and programs (see GamStop below) to protect anyone who might gamble through a licensed UK online gambling operator.
Over the last few years, the online gambling landscape has changed a great deal in Europe. Now, more countries have legalized online gambling with some of them creating regulatory bodies.
To understand the regulatory structure in Europe, it’s necessary to break everything into two groups: viewing Europe through the minds of the European Union (EU) and looking at individual countries.
In the minds of EU member countries, responsibility for regulating the online gambling industry falls primarily on these regulatory bodies:
- UK Gambling Commission
- Malta Gaming Authority
- Gambling Division of the Government of Gibraltar
- Alderney Gambling Control Commission
- Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission
As long as operators are licensed and regulated by at least one of these regulators, most European countries feel comfortable letting their residents have access to those sites. For added protection, some countries appointed their own regulatory bodies. For instance, the Swedish Gambling Authority oversees licensing and regulation setting in Sweden. In Denmark, the Danish Gambling Authority sets the standards.
Regulatory Responsibilities
While each country takes a slightly different approach to the regulation of the online gambling industry, there are certain responsibilities that most regulators seem to maintain and have in common. That would include licensing, setting fair gaming standards, setting advertising standards, and providing resources to protect problem gamblers.
Self-exclusion Programs in Europe
Several countries have created self-exclusion programs for the protection of vulnerable problem gamblers. The list of renowned self-exclusion programs in Europe includes:
- AAMS (Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato) in Italy
- SpelPaus in Sweden
- ROFUS in Denmark
- GamStop in the UK
In a lot of ways, these programs are similar because they were modeled after the UK’s GamStop scheme. Of course, there are some differences. For instance, ROFUS allows gamblers to request self-exclusion from both online and retail gambling resources at the same time.
About GamStop
Since GamStop is the “gold standard” among self-exclusion programs, a description of the program seems warranted.
The GamStop Self-exclusion program was co-authored by the UK Gambling Commission. All licensed UK online gambling operators are required to join the scheme and pay a subscription fee. Once they do that, they get access to the GamStop database.
Gamblers can register with the program for free. At registration, they need to provide personal information and choose a self-exclusion time period. Once everything is approved, GamStop gamblers are denied access to existing and new gambling accounts with GamStop members online gambling operators that are licensed in the UK.
The program is largely effective for problems gamblers who are willing to commit to the program. For gamblers who change their minds, they have to seek online gambling alternatives like to continue playing at CasinoWise casinos not under GamStop.
When the self-exclusion period ends, GamStop gamblers are permitted to seek reactivation of existing UK gambling accounts or open new accounts.
