Interactive
Argentina – Online operator MisionBet wins case in Buenos Aires
By Phil - 7 December 2017
A court in Buenos Aires has unblocked the MisionBet website and ruled against Buenos Aires prosecutor Martín Lapadú.
In June Lapadú ordered that misionbet.com.ar, an online gaming site that is based in the province of Misiones, be closed arguing that it operated in contravention of local gaming laws. The prosecutor had requested the closure after a bet had reportedly been made within the city limits of Buenos Aires and a total of $460m pesos was embargoed in the bank accounts belonging to those responsible for the site. According to the terms of its licence, only those living in the province of Misiones were permitted to take part via the www.misionbet.com.ar website.
However during the hearing experts were able to prove that the site blocked bets made outside of the province of Misiones and was able to locate from where in the country or in the world the bet was being made and block it when appropriate. Specifically the judge also found that there were sufficient player identification measures in place to identify that the player were not making bets from within the city limits of Buenos Aires.
At the hearing, held earlier this week, computer experts were also able to effectively counter the arguments put forward by Lapadú for the closure. Lapadú in return recognised that The Provincial Institute of Lotteries and Casinos of Misiones (IPLyC) blocked bets made in Buenos Aires. As a result, the judge presiding over the case Rodolfo Ariza Clerici ordered that the site be unblocked.
MisionBet was launched by the Provincial Institute of Lotteries and Casinos of Misiones (IPLyC) in December 2015 and allows locals to play online with both credits and prizes managed through local lottery outlets. The site offers sports betting, online casino games and poker. The platform is managed in conjunction with company Sistemas Integrados S.A.
According to local online gaming laws, online gaming has been permitted since 2006 but only on a province-to-province basis. Each province has the right to offer online gaming within its own territory and how gaming is regulated comes under the remit of each province. Currently the provinces of Misiones, San Luis, Entre Ríos, Neuquén, Río Negro, Chaco and Tucumán offer online gaming with most other provinces working towards some kind of regulation in the future.
