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For Kesitilwe, tackling the illegal market is not just a regulatory priority but a fundamental player protection issue.
“Oftentimes when you see governments increasing taxes, banning iGaming, it’s mainly because of illegal operators because they don’t comply,” he declares. “An illegal operator may not provide age verification, responsible gambling tools, secure treatment of player funds, or an effective complaints mechanism.
“So illegal operators undermine licensed businesses that invest in compliance, contribute to taxes and operate under regulatory oversight. We are where we are because of illegal operators. Oftentimes, licensed operators have licence conditions that they need to abide with.”
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The court also dismissed the equal-treatment argument, noting that gaming machines are taxed by the municipality while casino taxation falls to Hesse.
Wiesbaden’s tax, set under local statute, applies to expenditure on gaming machines, and the city said the higher rate was part of its response to strained finances.
The decision is not yet legally binding, with a further opportunity to appeal the denial of ‘leave to appeal’ open to the applicants. This will be reviewed by the Federal Administrative Court of Leipzig.
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In a LinkedIn post on Monday, Keurmerk Verantwoorde Affiliates (KVA), the Dutch casino affiliate quality mark, voiced concerns about the role of Google search in directing Dutch consumers towards illegal online gambling sites.
The group highlighted potential risks posed by Google’s organic search features beyond paid advertising, which include autocomplete and suggested queries.
Using data collected primarily through Chrome’s incognito mode to exclude personalised search histories, the KVA identified several autocomplete and pre-fill search queries that directly suggested illegal gambling platforms to users.
