Bet-at-Home’s bid to be removed from the Belgian blacklist for gambling sites came to end this week when in a sharply worded rebuke from the Belgian Court of First Interest.
The company had been fighting the decision that’s kept it out of the newly liberalized Belgian Gambling market.
Unfortunately, companies that served Belgian players in the per-liberalization era were put on a blacklist by the Belgian Gaming Commission and ISPs that work with blacklisted site were subject to stiff penalties.
Bet-at-Home representatives were arguing that responsibility for enforcing the blacklist lay with the individual ISPs, not with the blacklisted companies themselves.
The judge in the case struck down that notion in no uncertain terms saying that the state simply couldn’t be expected to tacitly endorse illegal activities, under any circumstance.
This isn’t the first time that Bet-at-Home has gone head to head with Belgian authorities, but the attorney for the state in the case is hoping that it’s going to be the last.
In a post-verdict press conference he indicated his hope that Bet-at-Home would be putting its efforts at shutting down the black list to rest, once and for all. Given Bet-at-Homes’ willingness to got to court, that seems like a tall order.
What do you think about the Belgian blacklist? Is it fair? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.