Australian Communications and Media Authority WALL OF SHAME 68 Other parts of this accusation are a little less clear, like the word “promote” or the somewhat ambiguous term “drive traffic” and, of course, the biggest question of all, what do they consider an “affiliate” or “affiliate services?” The Australian authorities did say that affiliate services often pose as “independent reviewers,” but that doesn’t really help us, does it? Are they talking about operators who launched their own portals so they look like an independent reviewer? Or do they consider actual, legitimate individual webmasters to be “posing” as independent reviewers, since, after all, they do profit from a referral. The only thing that was made abundantly clear is that the good folks at the AustralianCommunications andMedia Authority have taken “enforcement action” and consider this affiliate problem a high priority, or even higher than usual. You see, from July to September last year, the ACMA blocked a total of 96 websites in order to prevent Australians from accessing illegal offshore gambling offerings. Whether that means actual webmasters or operators posing as webmasters, we don’t really know. Our guess is that we’ll find out, eventually. But in the meantime, let’s pin the rear end of the ACMA to the Wall of Shame. Welcome to the club! For this issue’s new inductee to the APCW Wall of Shame, we head Down Under where the Aussies have proven they aren’t afraid to join in the absurdity that envelopes our industry on a daily basis. Back in November, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, otherwise known as the ACMA, announced that it would begin focusing on “affiliate services that promote and drive traffic to illegal online casinos.” The announcement came after the Australian media regulator said it received 314 inquiries and complaints during Q3 2022, 87% of which were deemed “valid for investigation under the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001.” Now, there’s a lot to unpack here regarding this claim. For example, what exactly is “an illegal online casino?” Answer: Any online casino that the ACMA is not directly profiting from through a tax structure. G P W A t i m e s . o r g
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