Chilean Court Establishes DNS Blocking Mechanism for Unauthorized Online Casinos

The Santiago Court of Appeals in Chile has decided that DNS blocking is the suitable technical solution for complying with the Supreme Court’s judgment regarding transmission and promotion of unauthorized online gambling services.

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The new process will involve telecommunications firms closing specific domains that aren’t currently regulated in Chile. The decision outlines a five-stage process to address technical concerns previously raised by internet providers, but primarily aimed at the risk of inadvertently blocking legitimate web pages.

SCJ to Validate Suspected Illegal Gambling Domains

Lotería de Concepción or Polla Chilena de Beneficencia will be in charge of reporting suspected URLs directly to Chile’s Superintendency of Casinos (SCJ) under the mechanism. It will then be up to the regulator to decide whether the reported domains are actually for illegal online gambling or betting websites.

The conflict arose from a lawsuit presented by Lotería de Concepción against four top telecommunications firms: Claro, Entel, GTD, Telefónica, WOM and VTR. Chile’s Supreme Court decided in favor of the lottery in September 2025, and mandated that telecommunications companies immediately block websites that are reportedly providing illegal gambling services.

Five-Step Process Includes Ongoing Monitoring

The next step will be for the Chilean Undersecretariat of Telecommunications (SUBTEL) to provide telecommunications companies with the list of validated domains to implement. The system will also feature continuous monitoring to detect and block ‘mirror sites’ set up to evade the restrictions.

The Santiago Court’s ruling stated that “the appellant or supporting third party shall inform the SCJ of the domains, subdomains, redirects or derived websites that it considers associated with the websites covered by the ruling and which, in its view, fail to comply with the order.”

The decision further establishes that “the information will be submitted to the SCJ, which, within the scope of its powers, will validate whether the reported domains effectively correspond to online betting or gambling platforms and will communicate this to SUBTEL.” Once validated, SUBTEL will notify the telecommunications companies of the domains and subdomains that must be added to their DNS blocking systems.

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Telecom Operators to Implement Validated Blocks

The telecommunications companies will implement DNS blocks on the domain names designated by SUBTEL within the time limit set by the authority. They will also have to submit reports to the Santiago Court of Appeals on the implementation of the measures.

The decision offers a clear process for the blocking of illegal platforms in Chile. In comments to Chilean newspaper La Tercera, President of Polla Chilena de Beneficencia, Felipe Dalgalarrando, welcomed the decision. He also urged the mechanism be put in place as soon as possible to ensure the Supreme Court decision was adhered to.

Industry Group Questions Scope of Court Decision

However, the Chilean Association of Online Betting Platforms (aPAL) had concerns about the extent of the ruling. It is “concerning that the Court is extending its jurisdiction beyond the specific scope submitted for its consideration.”

aPAL emphasized that the intricacies of the online gambling industry further underscore the importance of thorough regulatory measures. The association urged the debate of the bill currently under discussion in the Chilean Senate, which would establish a “very clear” framework for the powers, responsibilities and conditions of the operation of the activity.

The new DNS blocking framework is thus an important regulatory instrument until a more comprehensive framework for online gambling is discussed in Chile.

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Source: SBC Noticias