Some fines unpaid
Dutch regulator Kansspelautoriteit, or KSA, recently issued hefty fines against CyberRock Entertainment and Honeydew for offering online gambling to players in the Netherlands.
The KSA says the two firms operated via two websites that serve an almost exclusively Dutch audience, play2wincasino.com and supremeplay.com. It has penalized the firms to the tune of €350,000 (US$400,000) each.
CyberRock is based in Curacao, a Caribbean island and originally a Dutch colony, according to CDC Gaming Reports; the news outlet further stated that some fines remain unpaid, with little recourse available to the regulator.
In a statement issued after the fines were handed down, René Jansen, chairman of the KSA board of directors, said many people in the Netherlands are unaware that online gambling is illegal and the sites unregulated. That creates a greater risk that vulnerable players could be exploited, he warned.
The KSA has lobbied for the passage of a bill that would re-regulate remote gaming in the Netherlands. That bill has stalled, though there are hopes it could be revived in 2020, says State Secretary Sander Dekke.
