French Gaming Authority ARJEL Beats Stan James in Court, Sets Sights on 15 Other Casino Operators

Now that the recently introduced new French gambling laws are firmly in place, regulatory company Autorité de Régulation des Jeux en Ligne (ARJEL) is expecting France-based ISPs to firewall access to all non-licensed online gambling sites within the country. 

The order was first issued last Friday, when the French superior court ruled in favor of ARJEL in a complaint brought against Stan James, a Gibraltar-based online gambling provider. Spokesmen for Stan James have stated that they will not appeal the decision and that the company will close all private accounts of French residents. 

A list of 16 foreign-based operators were specifically cited by ARJEL as being offenders to the current law and are still providing Internet casinos, poker rooms or online sportsbooks in France. This list is said to include 888sport, 10bet, 32Red, Bet24, Betcris, Betfred, Betsson, Boylesports, Centrebet, Globet, Interwetten, Jaxx, Jetbull, PaddyPower, and Stryyke in addition to Stan James. 

Betsson CEO Pontus Lindwall was one to take offense at being listed among the offenders, claiming that his Betsson Malta operation had stopped taking French players on July 14. Lindwall now states that Betsson will not be applying for a license in the near futures and that “If the French authorities should IP-block Betsson.com even if Betsson Malta is not in breach with French law, I would find that very odd. I am convinced that French citizens, like the rest of the world, are not very impressed by censorship.” 

“I believe the French authorities should focus on making its legislation competitive in order to secure long-term success for its new licensing regime,” he added.