Chile court defines DNS blocking process for unlicensed gambling domains
2026-08-10
Source: Focus Gaming News
Chile's Court of Appeals has set a permanent DNS blocking procedure for unlicensed gambling sites, requiring six major telecom operators to block validated domains through a process overseen by the SCJ and Subtel. The measure follows a Supreme Court decision that ordered enforcement proceedings to reopen.
Santiago's Court of Appeals has established the procedure that telecom operators must follow to cut off access to unlicensed gambling websites, giving effect to an earlier Supreme Court ruling. The decision applies to Claro, Entel, GTD Manquehue, Movistar, WOM and VTR, which will be required to carry out Domain Name System (DNS) blocking on domains confirmed as illegal betting platforms.
The case originated in a lawsuit brought by Lotería de Concepción, which runs Chile's regulated lottery market alongside Polla Chilena de Beneficencia. The lottery operator argued that telecom companies were allowing users to reach unauthorised online gambling sites, creating unfair competition. Polla Chilena later joined the legal action.
How the blocking will work
The court adopted the technical framework proposed by Chile's Undersecretariat of Telecommunications (Subtel), setting up a standing process for identifying and blocking new domains. In the first step, the parties involved must report domains, subdomains, redirects or derivative sites to the casino regulator, the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (SCJ), if they believe these are linked to platforms covered by the ruling.
The SCJ then verifies whether those domains genuinely correspond to betting or gambling operations. Once validated, the information is passed to Subtel, which sends the list of domains and subdomains to the telecom companies for inclusion in their DNS blocking systems. The operators must implement the blocks within a timeline set by Subtel and provide proof of compliance to the court.
The arrangement can be updated over time to add new domains, subdomains or mirror sites used by already-blocked platforms. It also includes safeguards to correct errors and avoid disrupting legitimate online services.
In April 2025, the Court of Appeals initially rejected the lottery operators' request, but the Supreme Court reversed that decision. After the Court of Appeals declared in March 2026 that the ruling had been satisfied, the Supreme Court again intervened in April, overturning that finding and ordering enforcement proceedings to resume. The high court viewed website blocking as essential to achieving the main objective of its ruling.