The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has requested internet service providers (ISPs) in the country to block access to offshore gambling websites operated by Kings Chance Service.
ausFollowing an investigation carried out after numerous complaints about the brand, ACMA found Kings Chance Service was operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
ACMA deemed Kings Chance Service to be running illegally in Australia and requested that ISPs block access to its online gambling sites.
The authority began making blocking requests in November 2019 when it was granted new enforcement powers. Since these came into effect, 272 gambling websites deemed to have been operating illegal have been blocked.
These include Bao Casino, Pokie Place, Reels of Joy and Ozwin Casino, which ACMA ordered to be blocked in April this year.
In addition, more than 130 unlicensed services have pulled out of the Australian market since the authority began enforcing new illegal offshore gambling rules in 2017.
“Website blocking provides a valuable opportunity to alert the public to illegal gambling services through the messaging that appears when there is an attempt to access the site,” ACMA said.
The latest blocking requests come after ACMA last week appointed technology provider Engine Australia to deliver the country’s first national self-exclusion register for online and mobile gambling.
Being built on behalf of the ACMA, the new platform will allow people to self-exclude from all licensed interactive wagering service providers. The length of self-exclusion will start at three months and extend to a permanent opt-out from accessing such gambling services.
Engine previously designed and developed the UK Gambling Commission’s self-exclusion scheme, Gamstop, which launched in 2018.
