Belgium can now implement IP-blocking measures against the black market thanks to new powers granted to the gambling regulator, Kansspelcommissie. The regulator has signed an agreement with the official domain registry DNS Belgium, which manages the .be, .vlaanderen, and .brussels domains. Kansspelcommissie staff can now identify any websites they consider illegal and promptly report them to DNS Belgium.
Once the notification is received, the domain administrator informs the domain owner that their website violates DNS Belgium’s rules and constitutes an infringement, as it illegally targets Belgian citizens. If the domain owner does not comply voluntarily after warnings from DNS Belgium, the registry will revoke the domain name license. The landing page will then be modified to redirect users to a Kansspelcommissie warning page in French and Dutch, blocking access to the site and informing visitors that the content is illegal.
“The Gaming Commission and DNS Belgium have signed a cooperation agreement. This cooperation will make it easier to detect illegal gambling sites that use websites with a ‘.be’ domain. We would like to thank our partners at DNS Belgium for this cooperation,” stated the regulator.
IP-blocking powers are an important tool in regulators’ efforts to combat the black market. This practice is widely used worldwide – from Australia, where it is implemented by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), to countries in Africa, including Kenya.
It is also particularly common in Europe, where regulators from EU member states frequently share best practices for developing IP-blocking policies. Examples include Bulgaria’s NRA, Romania’s ONJN, France’s ANJ, and the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
An exception is Germany, where the GGL regulator still does not have the authority to issue blocking orders for domestic or foreign IP addresses. Currently, such measures are mainly implemented through extensive market analyses and collaboration between the regulator, licensed operators, and major tech companies such as Google.
At the same time, a direct communication channel between GGL and Germany’s domain registry, DENIC, does not exist. This is largely due to the complex regulatory environment under Germany’s GlüStV 2021 gambling regime, which requires unanimous approval from all 16 federal states to turn policies into federal law.
However, the framework is currently under review, scheduled to conclude by the end of 2026, and experts believe that IP-blocking powers could finally be added to GGL’s toolkit in the second half of next year.
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