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Colombia – Colombian Gaming Board to block 300 online gaming sites

By - 14 March 2017

The Colombian Gaming Control Board (Coljuegos) is currently waiting for the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications and the police to enforce the blocking of around 300 gaming websites which currently offer their services locally.

Among the sites which the government plans to block are PokerStars, bwin, Bet365, Playbet, Foxfoxbet, Betmotion and Casinobet365. According to the board online gaming laws will be toughened after legislation was passed in 2015 and 2016. Operators offering their services locally will now have to meet with a number of requirements including the obligation to pay a licensing fee of $600m pesos and must meet with a number of other strict legal and financial requirements as well. According to local sources the government believes that while a number of operators could change domain name a number of sites could soon fall in with the new requirements so that they will be able to continue to offer their services locally.

Juan Pérez Hidalgo, President of Coljuegos highlighted the fact that new laws in Colombia will put it ahead of other countries in Latin America when it comes to online gaming. “We are the first country in Latin America to regulate these games, and we did it by reviewing not only legislation in Spain, France and the UK which are the most advanced on the issue but also when it comes to other technical elements or gaming trends. This will allow us to obtain more resources for health and ensure that Colombians who use these pages are assured that they will not be ripped off and that they will pay them their prizes,” said Juan Pérez Hidalgo, President of Coljuegos.

The board has been looking at strengthening its gaming laws for some time. In December 2016 Mr Hidalgo revealed that new online gaming legislation would be aimed primarily at providing better player protection measures. “We want Colombian players to be sure that by entering these platforms that they will have a backing and that the prizes will be received,” he said. Resources generated by the newly regulated online gaming industry will go to the health sector. Talking to press in December Mr Hidalgo said that the new online gaming bill will ensure that operators “must process a licence, meet certain requirements, certify the systems they will use and pay an initial amount in order to operate the (online) games.” Players will be able to find a list of authorised operators via the Coljuegos web page, and online gaming platforms will be certified by specialised gaming laboratories.

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