After accusing the Dutch gaming authority Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) of abusing the online mystery shopping regime, a leading casino operator Videoslots faces the regulator’s fine of €9,874,000 for the alleged violation of the Dutch Gaming Act. Videoslots now denies the KSA allegations resulting in the highest penalty in the Dutch regulator’s history and considers the authority’s move absurd and unlawful.

Unauthorized access accusations:

Videoslots, the Malta-based 2023 Online Casino Operator of the Year, challenges the KSA decision arguing that the regulator gained unauthorized access to the casino’s platform in April 2022, when the operator was getting ready to submit its KSA application. The regulator’s logo was mistakenly displayed on the operator’s website for a short while to be quickly removed and invisible. The operator claims that KSA became aware of the mistake and tried to sign up pretending to be a Dutch customer. But the attempt failed as such access was not allowed by the website’s effective security measures.

Additional measures introduced:

Videoslots further claims that KSA then tried to sign up as a German customer and gained unauthorized access to the platform. According to the casino, the regulator also managed to land a deposit and a single bet of 20 cents. As European Gaming reports, Videoslots became aware that a KSA official had illegally accessed its platform, and introduced additional security measures to prevent any further intrusions.

Regulatory violation accusations:

Following the operator’s accusations, the KSA now alleges that Videoslots violated the Dutch Gaming Act and issues a fine of €9,874,000, which will be the most significant penalty in its history. At the same time, the casino disputes the allegations and has objected to the fine.

Commenting on the dispute, Ulle Skottling, Deputy CEO at Videoslots, said: “Videoslots does not target but restrict the Netherlands, so the Dutch Gaming Act does not apply to its services. No Dutch players were able to access our site during the disputed period and there was no violation as a result.”

KSA actions disputed:

Skottling continued: “It is absurd that the KSA should fine us after gaining unauthorized access. It is simply not possible to protect fully against unauthorized access, and the KSA has no guidelines on what measures are sufficient. Furthermore, there was no demonstrable damage, and the interests of Dutch consumers were never compromised at any point. The KSA calculated the fine based on several guesstimates. There is no basis for it and all sense of proportionality is missing.”

He also stated: “Videoslots takes its legal and regulatory obligations extremely seriously, but we dispute the KSA’s actions and conclusions, which we believe are unlawful. We are confident of a positive outcome in this case.”