Zona de Azar Brasil – Brazil: Anatel Discusses Challenges in Blocking Illegal Websites

Brazil.- October 17, 2024 www.zonadeazar.com Yesterday, on the 15th, the president of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), Carlos Baigorri, discussed some technical challenges in blocking illegal betting websites in the country.

After the publication of the positive list by the Ministry of Finance, illegal sites began to be taken down starting on October 11.

Anatel receives from the Ministry of Finance, through the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), a list of domains considered illegal, and based on that, Anatel instructs telecommunications companies to block access to those addresses, as Baigorri explained in an interview with CNN 360°.

“We simply receive these domains and contact the telecommunications operators to block them,” he explained, emphasizing that the agency is not responsible for managing domains or distributing IP names and numbers.

The president also warned that betting houses could use other means to bypass the block, such as using digital infrastructures or IP domains that are not under Anatel’s oversight. The president likened it to “mopping up water.”

“We go there, receive the list of domains from the Ministry of Finance, block them all, and then the Ministry of Finance monitors to see if the domain changed, if they switched names, or moved the site to another domain,” he concluded.

Illegal Sites Create Domains to Bypass MF Decision

Shortly after the positive list was published, the number of irregularities in domain creation grew – despite being prohibited by the MF. 18 illegal betting sites are operating on alternative domains to those on Anatel’s list, according to a survey conducted by g1. The strategy was to add a sequence of characters after the original site name, making it very similar to the original.

The survey found 134 sites from 18 illegal betting houses. Of these, 51 were created on Friday, the 11th, 19 on Saturday, the 12th, and 5 on Tuesday, the 15th.

The report tried to contact the Ministry of Finance, but no response has been received yet. Anatel, however, commented that its role is to pass on the list provided by the MF to the operators.

Who Is Not Targeted by Anatel

The latest update of the positive list was published on October 8. Currently, 96 companies and 213 brands are authorized to operate in the national territory until the end of the transition period.

In September of this year, the SPA, linked to the Ministry of Finance, published Ordinance No. 1.475 in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU), prohibiting the operation of sports betting and online gaming sites that have not yet applied for an operating license in Brazil.

Regis Dudena, Secretary of Prizes and Betting at SPA, issued an official statement: “This was the way we found to avoid waiting until January to start separating the wheat from the chaff.”

Edited by: @_fonta www.zonadeazar.com