Carlos Baigorri explained that changes are necessary to make the blocks more effective. The ANJL supported the request.
Brazil.- The president of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), Carlos Baigorri, will recommend to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on Betting to improve the law regulating the activity in the country to allow the agency to block illegal websites starting in January, when the official market comes into operation. Baigorri was invited by the CPI to provide clarifications to the members of the commission. The date has not yet been set, but it is expected to be next week.
In a recent interview with Folha, Baigorri stated that, in the way the betting law was approved, Anatel does not have the power to completely and efficiently cut the connection of about 5,200 illegal websites, as requested by the Ministry of Finance.
In this context, Baigorri proposed three possible scenarios. The first is to expand Anatel's powers, amending the General Telecommunications Law to stipulate that the agency has the authority to regulate, monitor, and sanction.
The second option is to change the law that regulated betting to expand the single paragraph that deals with blocks to say that DNS operators are also obliged to comply with these decisions. The third way would be to modify the Internet Civil Framework to expand the guidelines for blocking websites.
For the head of Anatel, the ideal is to modify the article of the law that talks about blocking to include DNS operators (Internet addresses, including those using masks, VPN) and CDN (local server content networks).
The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) supported the concern of the head of Anatel. According to the ANJL, the current scenario could jeopardize the regulation of the Brazilian market and compromise the effective separation between "wheat and chaff," promised by the head of the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, Regis Dudena.
The ANJL detected that, currently, more than 2,000 illegal domains are fully operational in Brazil, in addition to the thousands that have already been taken down by Anatel.
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“We recognize the diligence and seriousness of the work being carried out by the Ministry of Finance, as well as Anatel's efforts in terms of blocks. But the industry needs an effective response. Serious legal sites will not be able to withstand the competition from illegal sites. It is necessary to separate the wheat from the chaff, and this will only be possible with a tough fight against illegal websites, which harm society and tarnish the image and reputation of legal betting,” said the president of the ANJL, Plínio Lemos Jorge.
