Starscream ignored an earlier warning from the regulator over unlicensed online gambling.
The Dutch regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has ordered Starscream Limited to pay a €4.2 million ($4.9 million) fine. The fine comes after the company illegally offered online gambling in the country without a license.
KSA states that Dutch players were able to gamble through Rantcasino.com, a Starscream owned, Allstarzcasino.com and Sugarcasino.com. Each website offered online slots, but Starscream could not accept players from the Netherlands across the three sites.
The regulator said Starscream had failed to put measures in place to restrict access for Dutch players. The ruling, dated December 16, was only made public recently.
These included failing to restrict traffic from Dutch IP addresses. KSA also noted that players could create accounts with Dutch contact details. They could deposit funds from Dutch bank accounts and use country-specific payment methods such as iDEAL.
KSA also noted that the Netherlands appeared as a selectable country for customers. Additionally, the contact details section automatically filled in the Dutch phone code +31. Live chat customer service on Rantcasino.com was available with a Duch language option on top of this.
Under Dutch law, authorities can consider a website to breach regulations. This applies even if the site does not specifically target Dutch players. This is grounds for regulatory action if a Dutch player can gamble on the website.
KSA also noted numerous aggravating factors that influenced its final decision on Starscream. Simply being accessible to Dutch players was reason enough for the regulator to take action.
Among its primary findings was a lack of visible age verification. This means minors could have potentially gambled on the sites. KSA also raised concerns about autoplay options, which the Netherlands restricts.
