MINCETUR won a first battle against illegal gambling

MINCETUR won a first battle against illegal gambling. Now he must go for the war.

One of the first wise decisions of MINCETUR when implementing Law 31557 was to require authorized providers not to maintain direct or indirect relationships (through aggregators) with operators that offered remote games in Peru without authorization. The measure worked. Many international providers strengthened their geo-blocking systems, revised their contracts, and stopped supplying content to authorized operators in other jurisdictions, but not in Peru.

However, that strategy has a limit. The real problem is not the legal provider. It is the illegal operator.

As a lawyer advising numerous international suppliers, I have found that many black market operators have sophisticated their practices. They no longer only offer games without authorization; They also counterfeit brands from well-known vendors, create copycat versions of successful games, improperly use certifications, and even appear to have non-existent licenses.

The damage does not only affect the State. It also hurts companies that invest millions of dollars in developing games, protecting their intellectual property, and complying with regulatory demands. The most worrying thing is that the player often does not even know that he is using a counterfeit version.

In Peru, operating remote games and sports betting without authorization can constitute the crime provided for in Article 243-C of the Penal Code.

Therefore, I believe that the time has come to strengthen enforcement. MINCETUR could:

✅ creating a specialized intelligence unit on illegal gambling;

✅ to coordinate permanently with the Public Prosecutor's Office, the National Police, the SBS, the UIF and SUNAT;

✅ follow the money route to identify payment processors, beneficial owners and financing structures;

✅ cooperate with the authorities of the jurisdictions from which these sites operate;

✅ working together with rights holders to combat counterfeiting of games and trademarks;

✅ act against affiliates and influencers who promote illegal operators;

✅ periodically publish the sites detected and the inspection actions carried out.

The goal should not be just to take down a website. It must be to increase the cost and risk of operating illegally in Peru.

As Gary Becker explained, the decision to break the law depends on the expected benefit versus the likelihood of being detected and sanctioned. As long as operating illegally remains highly profitable and low-risk, the black market will continue to grow.

Peru has already built a solid regulatory framework. Now it is time to consolidate it with an equally solid inspection strategy.

Legality is not protected by licensing alone. It also protects itself by investigating, cooperating internationally, sanctioning and making illegality economically unviable.

Previously published in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-fonseca-sarmiento-815a4944/?skipRedirect=true