Online gambling website 5dimes.com was once the focal point of negative attention, this time in France. 5dimes.com had already been warned and ordered to stop operating illegally in France last year, but they ignored that warning and kept operating business as usual. ARJEL then ordered ISP’s to block 5dimes.com, but that’s a task easier said than done.
From a technical standpoint, keeping an unwanted operator out of a country isn’t exactly as simple as pushing a button. Those ISP’s unable or unwilling to obey, face fines of €10k/day for not complying with ARJEL’s orders. As for ICE, the Costa Rican 5dimes.com web host, it is subject to a fine of 100 000 € per day if he does not respond to requests from the French regulator.
The situation would play itself out in the courts as French internet service providers: Orange France, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, Free, Numericable, Auchan Telecom and Darty battled authorities in court at Paris’ Tribunal de Grande Instance protesting the law requiring them to block 5dimes.com.
The ISP’s find themselves in very hot water now after a judge has ruled in favour of ARJEL requiring the ISP’s block 5dime’s access to the French market effective immediately. The ruling carries with it hefty fines for failure to adhere, but the ISP’s have bigger problems on their hands. Namely, how they are going to be able to definitively block 5dime’s access.
The problem is that operators have a thousand and one ways to access their targets and it is going to cost a lot of time and resources for these ISP’s to police 5dimes.com.
