Are gambling ccTLD domains illegal on countries that forbid gambling?

[Hypersot]

As the title says. Are domains, that contain gambling words in the name, illegal just by owning them?

Specifically, I own bitcoin casino / in Belgium .

Is that dangerous to have? and if not, do you people think that there will be any chance to find a buyer for this name as long as the gambling restrictions are in place in Belgium?

thanks in advance for any answers

 

[Name Trader]

You question asks are they illegal. They probably are not illegal. You could put adult content on them instead But you qualified that answer in your post to if you can sell them. Yes you can sell them, if you could find a buyer

 

[Hypersot]

thanks for the answer stub but my question about the buyer comes after we can determine if just the name casino has any impact on the legal issues.

If those kind of names are *not* illegal, maybe a potential buyer will be reluctant to use a 'potentially' problematic name as 'casino' is

I hope you understand what I'm asking here

 

[Name Trader]

Yes. I understand. What I don't understand is why you would want a own and try to sell a gambling related domain in a country where gambling is illegal. You won't find any buyers for your .be domain, imho.

 

[Hypersot]

Yes. I understand. What I don't understand is why you would want a own and try to sell a gambling related domain in a country where gambling is illegal. You won't find any buyers for your .be domain, imho.

lol, that's what I was concerned in.

well, this is one of the domains that I got when I first started domaining (about 7-8 months ago) and since I'm doing a cleanup, I need to see which domains should I keep and which to let expire.

As it is obvious, I didn't pay attention on such 'trivial' stuff back then.... now, I know better ofc

still, I really like this name and since it's part of my Bitcoins portfolio, I'm still not sure what to do with it :/

 

[Name Trader]

Drop it. I doubt that the word casino enhances the word bitcoin. The only real case for this domain is if there was a casino in Belgium which accepted bitcoins.

 

[Hypersot]

I was thinking more of a lottery type site that you can earn bitcoins by playing various lucky games but thanks again, I will seriously think of dropping it.

I would still like to know if anyone knows about the legal thing I asked though. Would someone get into trouble developing said domain or similar domains in countries that forbid gambling? I'm talking about developing it as a bitcoin-earner and not as an *adult* site

 

[Name Trader]

I would say at best, in a country where gambling is illegal, it would be illegal to start a gambling domain. To flout these laws, you would need to take the business offshore. Which opens up a whole can of worms about remittances etc.

The word casino is not a pseudonym for lottery. I think your lottery idea for a casino domain is a tad far-fetched.

My advice would be to drop a worthless domain and concentrate on something more productive.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer and don't claim to know the anti-gambling laws in Belgium.

 

[Hypersot]

I would say at best, in a country where gambling is illegal, it would be illegal to start a gambling domain. To flout these laws, you would need to take the business offshore. Which opens up a whole can of worms about remittances etc.

The word casino is not a pseudonym for lottery. I think your lottery idea for a casino domain is a tad far-fetched.

My advice would be to drop a worthless domain and concentrate on something more productive.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer and don't claim to know the anti-gambling laws in Belgium.

Well, I've been long enough in this site to know that this is not a legal counsel site . Your opinions are much appreciated as they are.. opinions. Thanks again.

 

[Kate]

AFAIK casinos are legal in Belgium, but they must rather be heavily regulated.
I don't see a problem with this domain, as long as you don't use it to operate an unlicensed casino.

But I don't see a lot of potential in this name. First of all, there are not many end users. If I were starting a casino, I wouldn't brand it as 'bitcoin casino' because BTC could be a fad, or crash, or be replaced by Darkcoin or omething else, I don't know...

 

[Hypersot]

I found an article a couple of days ago which mentioned that gambling is *strictly* forbidden in belgium. Based on that article I opened the thread.
Thanks for your insight about the domain though.

If you have a look at casino / be , you'll notice that it is a portal for other casino sites and it's not in itself a casino host. I thought that -maybe- someone would be interested to do that with bitcoins by using a domain like mine.

I got 2 opinions already that I should drop it , I think things are getting easier in my mind

 

[Kate]

There is at least one casino in Brussels alone:

http://www.opt.be/informations/tour...-only-real-casino-in-brussels/en/V/48551.html

I'm not sure about it, but I think even online gambling is legal in the EU now. But regulated rather tightly.

 

[Hypersot]

just a quick search for gambling in belgium and I found this article from 2011:
http://gamespectrum.bg/?page=home&cat=hot-topics&id=446
this is similar to the one I found two days ago but it's not the same. Can't find the other one unfortunately.

To sum up thread's question:

So, if a country prohibits an activity, it is a risk having a domain with said activity as its name or part of its name, right? (I'm not talking about extreme illegal activities)

Also, the chances someone from that country -or outside the country- of buying such a domain are minimal, due to the risk owning such a domain, right again?

I'm not talking specifically about my domain now, I'm asking in general. I think this is important info to know.

 

[Name Trader]

To you first question. No. You move all your activities offshore if you are the end-user. But, as I've said, I don't know, in this case, Belgium law.

To your second question. Yes. But, IMHO, not because of the risks of owning the domain, but because the potential end-user pool is so very small. And in your particular example, the domain name makes no sense.

 

[Kate]

So, if a country prohibits an activity, it is a risk having a domain with said activity as its name or part of its name, right? (I'm not talking about extreme illegal activities)

It depends, some ccTLDs are very strict, while others (the more mature ones) can be quite relaxed.
For example: India doesn't tolerate adult domain names and will gladly confiscate them (lund.in is an example). I think Germany doesn't like adult domains in .de too, but not sure.
In the case of .be my own experience indicates that the registry is quite liberal. I actually had a complaint once from a Belgian political party but the registry sided with me (because it was essentially a free speech issue and there was no grounds for a domain dispute).

You're raising a very relevant issue, when you invest in ccTLDs you have to understand the rules and the applicable policies. For instance, many registries do not allow registrations for the explicit purpose of reselling them. Just because you can buy them without restrictions, doesn't mean you can do anything you want. Some registries are watching. Generally speaking, European TLDs are safe.

 

[Hypersot]

Yeah, I also read on another thread about the .in registry not allowing reselling... that was quite a surprise seeing how easy it is to register any .in domain.