The province of British Columbia has taken steps to protect its PlayNow.com online gaming monopoly by warning offshore operators that they may be committing federal and provincial offenses by offering their services in the territory.
The move is a way for the BC Gaming Policy Enforcement Branch to strengthen the standing of the PlayNow service, and the claim that offshore operators are committing offenses is considered dubious by some, especially when federal law is taken into account. The group has not announced what measures they will take to enforce its take on the laws within their borders, but they could follow the path of Quebec, which has ISP-blocked online betting sites that compete with their own online betting monopoly.
Interestingly, the group has said that they are considering any operators working with other provinces to be in violation of the law, and that they are going to be discussing the issue with European regulators, which could be quite a provoation to otherwise regulated gaming sites.
The lengths that British Columbia is taking to protect its site makes you wonder whether or not PlayNow is doing well, as competition is obviously taking a significant chunk away from the monopoly.
Casino Listings will update this story as more developments arise.
Comments
Maybe that group has the right to block all these sites of the competitor companies but I also know that monopoly is never a good thing and only the customers will suffer from the lack of competition in the province.