A preliminary decision by the São Paulo Court ordered the blocking of 15 virtual gambling sites such as the little tiger, the dragon, and similar ones, which promise supposed quick returns for players. Judge Gustavo Henrique Bretas Marzagão, from the 35th Civil Court of the Capital, accepted a request from a gaming and betting association and sent a letter to the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to suspend access to the addresses.
According to the records, the Association in Defense of Integrity and Rights and Duties in Games and Bets (Adeja) stated that the sites operate, without regulation or operation leadership in Brazil, in the financial intermediation between the users of the games and the sites. In other words, they are responsible for the flow of money between the bettors and the companies' accounts.
The Public Prosecutor's Office expressed for the extinction of the action without judgment, but Judge Marzagão also accepted the argument from Adeja that the association itself could file a public civil action.
The magistrate also denied a request from the association for the blocking of the companies' bank accounts and gave them 15 days to respond. After the court's determination, Anatel should notify the telephone operators to carry out the blocking.
"The facts narrated in the initial and the documents accompanying it demonstrate the verisimilitude of the plaintiff's allegations regarding the participation of the defendants in the damages suffered by the community", said the magistrate.
Access on Monday morning (9), around 10:30 AM, it was still possible to access at least seven of the listed sites, most promising investment returns or displaying the characters from the little tiger game.
As reported by Folha, about 500 police reports have already been registered in São Paulo mentioning the little tiger since last year. Those who believed in the promises lost up to R$ 200,000, according to investigations by the Civil Police.
Blocked sites:
* cxxbet.com
* hot777.com
* 7yjogo.com
* fresh.casino
* 1993bet.com
* 4444king.com
* 7slots.casino
* 9f.com
* afun.com
* amuletobet.com
* bbajogo.com
* br678.com
* iribet.com
* ninecasino.com
* x1jogo.com
Government defines criteria to regulate little tiger, roulette, and betting
The Ministry of Finance published on July 31 a decree that regulates online betting games. The measure, which will take effect in January 2025, encompasses virtual modalities such as the little tiger game and other virtual slot machines, card games, roulette, and similar formats.
The text sets rules for each modality, such as specific probabilities for card games, ball draws, and roulettes, as well as bets made in automatic mode.
The decree ends the uncertainty about the legality of online slot machines by detailing how the so-called slot games, like Fortune Tiger and Fortune Dragon, should operate.
These sites were mentioned in a rider in the law that legalized bets in the country, where there was no explicit permission. The Finance measure takes this part of the betting market out of a "gray area".
The government also defined how the supervision and penalties in case of infraction, which include a fine of up to R$ 2 billion.
The rules of responsible gaming address addiction associated with games, violations of consumer rights, misleading advertising or for minors, rewards to attract customers, and affiliate marketing — a branch of advertising that, today, concentrates the largest number of complaints at the National Council for Self-Regulation in Advertising (Conar) and floods social networks with betting ads.
The rules pertain to online betting, encompassing modalities like the "little tiger game" and other virtual slot machines, card games, sports betting, roulette, and similar formats.
The betting site will have the duty to prevent registration or limit access to people with a medically proven diagnosis of gambling addiction or who are prevented from betting by administrative or judicial decision, in case of notification.
The bets will receive complaints of dependency and "pathological gambling" through an ombudsman that they must maintain to attend and guide bettors and family members. Moreover, they will need to use user navigation data to identify signs of addiction.
Each person may have only one registration on each betting site, to make it difficult for someone who is barred to circumvent the ban.
Source: Folha
