William Hill plc has confirmed that it intends to launch an appeal against the Euro 300,000 fine imposed on it earlier this year by Dutch regulator KSA for offering online games of chance to Dutch consumers on a website with Dutch translation facilities and using the Dutch bank account-linked iDEAL online payment solution.
Online gambling is currently prohibited in the Netherlands, and licensing is not possible due to the enabling legislation being bogged down in the Dutch parliament for the past decade as lawmakers debate its contents.
In the meantime Dutch punters have continued to use the online gambling services offered by international operators across Europe.
William Hill, and other online companies that have been penalised and reportedly intend to challenge their fines, are possibly concerned at rumblings from some Dutch lawmakers that when (if?) online gambling legislation is finally passed, it should exclude any applications from companies that have been penalised for unlicensed gambling service offerings.