In other words, some countries may not care too much whether their citizens can access sites such as offshore casinos, and some countries do their best to prevent these platforms from impacting the in-country casino market.
One of the countries that is pretty interesting is Norway, as it is an example of how a country wants to keep things under control in the online gambling industry. But is it really?
Norway currently has a gambling monopoly, as it has two gaming companies that are both country-run. In other words, no private operator can have a casino or any other kind of gambling venue in the country — it’s all in the hands of Norway. However, that doesn’t mean that the country successfully prevents offshore casinos from making an impact on its population.
In fact, the citizens of Norway like offshore casinos, and are looking for a way to play them, despite the fact that the government tries its best to prevent them.
One of the methods that the Norwegian lawmakers use to fight offshore casinos is disabling transactions between overseas operators and bank accounts of Norwegian citizens. Moreover, they have the right to remove any gambling apps from iOS and Android devices of Norwegian citizens to minimize the impact.
Naturally, the list of measures doesn’t end there. However, despite these measures being taken, offshore casinos still have a big influence.
Other Approaches in Europe
There are ultimately two ways to approach this issue. One of them is to fight offshore casinos and try your best to deny their influence, which seems fairly impossible at the moment. Even countries such as Norway, which is currently considered one of the most developed countries in the world, cannot effectively put a stop to offshore casinos.
However, its first neighbors, Sweden and Denmark, chose to go the other way, which is to offer licenses for offshore casinos. Therefore, instead of trying to prevent these type of online gambling platforms from offering their services at all, Sweden and Denmark (as well as a couple of other countries in Europe) just offered to give them official licenses and let them do their job.
That is, perhaps, a more natural approach, as players would be able to play games on a platform that is licensed and regulated by their home country, despite the fact that the platform itself is offshore.
To sum up, one of the sides is making a mistake. It is either Norway or other countries who chose to embrace offshore solutions. Norway is currently losing its battle, but the future is quite uncertain, and its regulators might find a way to stop offshore casinos once and for all.
