The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has ordered the blocking of five more illegal gambling websites by internet service providers (ISPs).
All five websites were found to be in breach of Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
Among the list of blocked sites was Australia-based affiliate platform Best Aussie Pokies.
When visiting the affiliate site this morning, EGR found the promotion of several Australia-facing online casinos. Online casino remains illegal Down Under.
Other blocked websites are variations of online casino Winspirit.com, operated by Curaçao-licensed company Complete Technologies NV.
The blocked domains for the operator include winspirit.online, win-spirit.online, winspirit.team and winspirit1.com.
An ACMA statement read: “Website blocking is one of a range of enforcement options to protect Australians against illegal online gambling.
“Since the ACMA made its first blocking request in November 2019, 1,279 illegal gambling and affiliate websites have been blocked.
“Around 220 illegal services have also pulled out of the Australian market since the ACMA started enforcing new illegal online gambling rules in 2017.
“The ACMA is reminding consumers that even if a service looks legitimate, it’s unlikely to have important customer protections. This means Australians who use illegal gambling services risk losing their money.”
The regulator’s latest crackdown takes the total number of blocked illegal websites so far this year to 16.
The ACMA ordered two illegal sites to be taken down in May, following on from the four websites shuttered in April.
In addition to website blocking, the ACMA has recently disciplined several operators.
Last month, Tabcorp was fined A$4m (£1.9m) for breaching Australia’s spam laws more than 5,000 times.
A further four operators – Buddybet, Ultrabet, VicBet and Topbet – were sanctioned for breaching the regulations of Australia’s self-exclusion register, BetStop.
Back in May, the ACMA fined Unibet A$1m and PointsBet A$500,000 for various self-exclusion failings.
The post ACMA orders ISPs to shut down five more illegal gambling websites first appeared on EGR Intel.
Media regulator continues black market crackdown with latest push, taking the total number of sites blocked since November 2019 to 1,279
The post ACMA orders ISPs to shut down five more illegal gambling websites first appeared on EGR Intel.