Lithuania tightens screws on int’l online gambling operators

Lithuania has become the latest European Union jurisdiction to tighten the screws on international online gambling operators.

On Jan. 1, Lithuania began enforcing recent amendments to the country’s gaming laws, which gave government agencies greater powers to take action against gambling operators not explicitly authorized to serve local punters.

The Gaming Control Authority (GCA), a branch of the Ministry of Finance, has been given free reign to legally compel internet service providers to block unauthorized gambling sites, with promises of penalties to be meted out to ISPs who don’t toe the line. Similarly, banks and other payment processing institutions are now legally required to block all transactions to and from unapproved gambling sites.

In keeping with some of its EU neighbors, the GCA has vowed to publish a blacklist of online operators who flout the new restrictions.