French ISPs fight online gambling ban methodology

Seven French internet service providers are questioning laws that require them to block Five Dimes.com, an internet gambling site operating from Costa Rica on servers hosted in that country by domestic provider ICE.
La Tribune reports that the service providers took issue in an appeal court in Paris with a Euro 10,000 daily fine imposed on them by online betting regulator ARJEL, appealing for relief from the Tribunal de Grande Instance.
Referring to an anti-semitic website that ISPs agreed previously to block, SFR’s lawyer stated that despite the blocks it is still possible for internet users to access the offending website at 12 or 13 different addresses.
Orange’s lawyer said it was logical and technically more realistic for the courts to act against hosting service providers rather than internet access providers.
All of the defendants emphasised that they did not seek to oppose ARJEL’s authority, or seek to prevent the law from being enforced.
Auchan Telecom asked for a definitive ruling to be handed down concerning the ISPs’ appeal of an August 2010 Tribunal de Grande Instance decision to block another online betting site unlicensed in France, StanJames, which eventually complied with ARJEL’s demands and now prevents internet users in France from using the service.

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