Is the Gambling Authority in Germany blocking IPs?

Since the 1st of July 2022, the GGL, the Gambling Authority responsible for all regions in Germany, has taken over the responsibility of combatting illegal online casinos nationwide. In the past, German Authorities had limited to no possibility of combatting illegal gambling offers on the internet. Now, with the introduction of IP-Blocking and Payment-Blocking, all this will change.

Just at the beginning of the month, we had reported that the Gambling Authority responsible for all regions in Germany, has recruited the lawyer Nadja Wierzejeweski as the new department head for GGL. Since the 1st of July, Wierzejeweski is responsible for combatting illegal gambling offers on the internet. It was around the same time, that the GGL was tasked with the responsibility of combatting illegal online gambling in Germany. The GGL is thus slowly starting up the operation, and it is planned that by the 1^st of July 2023 the department can completely regulate the transnational gambling market in Germany.

The GGL will implement enforcement mechanisms such as IP-Blocking and Payment-Blocking

Two weeks ago, the Gambling Authority, which is based in Halle an der Saale, had already explained that with effect from the 1^st of July 2022, the GGL will be making use of the necessary enforcement mechanisms. Among these mechanisms we find IP-Blocking and Payment-Blocking, that is the blocking of particular payment transfers. Just a few days ago we had reported that the GGL has initiated administrative procedures against Lottoland and Lottohelden.

The transnational Gambling Authority is now authorised to make use of enforcement mechanisms as IP- or Payment-Blocking. According to our knowledge the GGL has however still not made use of IP-Blocking to block illegal gambling sites. Last December we had already asked the question, whether blocking makes sense in Germany and we had discovered that IP-Blocking can be avoided and overturned quite easily. A VPN, a “Virtual Private Network”, is enough for this.

With its new competence, in the future, the Authority will be able to block payment methods. However, the so-called Payment-Blocking can lead the players and providers to turn to alternative payment options. It will in turn be difficult to control and to block the latter payment options.

The Regional Administrative Department (Landesverwaltungsamt) of Saxony-Anhalt and the GGL are working closely together

The Regional Administrative Department (Landesverwaltungsamt) of Saxony-Anhalt was initially responsible for combatting illegal gambling on the internet during the transition phase. In June of this year we had reported that the Regional Administrative Department (Landesverwaltungsamt) Sachsen-Anhalt had issued 25 fines for illegal gambling. Since the 1st of July 2022, the Gambling Authority, which is based in Halle is now responsible for illegal online gambling.

Some employees of the Regional Administrative Department have now changed their place of work and are working with the GGL. With their experience they can here offer support to the new team which is being created and together they can combat illegal gambling offers more efficiently.

As we had reported in February of this year, the website of the transnational Gambling Authority is now online . We had also reported about a “clerk emergency” in the GGL. Only around half of the 100 employees who should be working with the Authority by the 1^st of January 2023 have been recruited.

Conclusion

Since the 1st of July 2022, the GGL has been under the management of the lawyer Nadja Wierzejeweski and the Authority is responsible for combatting illegal online gambling transnationally. Since then, enforcement mechanisms as IP-Blocking and Payment-Blocking have been introduced. We are excited to see, if and when the authorities will start blocking illegal online casinos through IP-Blocking or whether they will block payments. It is a fact that the GGL still has a lot of to do to be able to combat illegal gambling offers on the internet sustainably and completely.

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