Anatel announced its Technical Cooperation Agreement (ACT) with the SPA on Monday (9 December), noting that the deal would help to establish a “fast and direct flow of information” between the two bodies. It additionally aims to reduce operational costs and strengthen oversight.
Anatel was in November charged with taking down illegal betting sites in Brazil, after the SPA sent lists of up to 5,200 sites to Anatel to block.
But two weeks ago (25 November) Anatel president Carlos Baigorri warned the telecoms regulator was lacking the appropriate resources to block all the illegal website IPs passed on by the SPA. He compared the agency’s efforts to “mopping up ice” and called for Anatel to be given increased powers.
Baigorri believes the ACT will be pivotal in enabling Anatel to carry out its site blocking more effectively.
“The agreement will allow for an agile flow for processing the blockings,” Baigorri said. “We know that it is a challenging task to prevent Brazilians from accessing illegal gambling sites and, precisely for this reason, cooperation is essential so that the blockings are carried out in the shortest possible time by telecoms service providers,” he said.
“We have a duty, as a state body, to combat illicit practices that cause competitive imbalances and disrespect our legislation.”
SPA leader Regis Dudena agreed with Baigorri. He expects the partnership will improve the two parties’ relationship and enable it to be more fluid and efficient.
What will the Anatel-SPA collaboration look like?
Part of the SPA’s remit is identifying illegal sites before establishing whether they meet the criteria to be blocked.
The SPA sends its decisions to Anatel, which then notifies around 20,000 telecoms providers to execute the IP blocking activity.
The agency then reports back to the SPA to let them know the sites have been banned from operating in Brazil. closing the two parties’ “transparent and traceable communication cycle”.
Baigorri had previously called out the scale of the offshore market, noting Anatel’s efforts were impeding its chances in effectively mitigating illegal gambling.
“Anatel does not have a red button that takes websites offline,” Baigorri explained. “When you talk about 3,000 websites on 20,000 networks, that is 60 million checks. Today, we cannot guarantee that the blocking is being carried out.”
Government measures to counter gambling fears
Just yesterday (9 December), Brazil’s federal government announced the creation of an interministerial working group to establish “prevention, assistance and awareness” measures for responsible gambling .
The group will feature representatives from the ministries of sport, health and finance, as well as the social communication secretariat. It will have 60 days to propose measures, with meetings held every two weeks.
In a crackdown on the illegal market, the government recently introduced restrictions on advertising and betting using social welfare.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/offshore-gaming/anatel-spa-brazil-site-blocking/
