Question A Casinos stance on VPN’s

Andy Walker

Full Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2013
Location
UK
When out and about and using public WI Fi I tend to use VPN’s and I know this brings issues with access to casinos and one I care not to try. Does any Casino Manager here have any thoughts on the subject?

With the future changeover from the IPv4 address system to IPv6 system with the possibility of ISP providers using a system that blocks geo-location which is obviously a huge consideration for a Casino, how do you think this could work?
 
When out and about and using public WI Fi I tend to use VPN’s and I know this brings issues with access to casinos and one I care not to try. Does any Casino Manager here have any thoughts on the subject?

With the future changeover from the IPv4 address system to IPv6 system with the possibility of ISP providers using a system that blocks geo-location which is obviously a huge consideration for a Casino, how do you think this could work?

No geo-location is going to be a headache outside the industry too. It's not just used to tailor stuff to a particular country, but block stuff too. There is a lot of YouTube content that is blocked from being viewable from the UK, and a loss of Geolocation would break this. It would piss off the film, TV, and music industry, so they are certain to object most strongly, which probably means it won't happen. There already seems to be a reluctance to roll out IPv6, and maybe it is the worries over tailoring and blocking content that has lead to pressure for a delay until such issues can be resolved.
 
I'd say the reluctance for IPv6 is all about the cost - the cost must be mind boggling for any company who need to upgrade a /16 or above, (=255x255 ip addresses)

What is the problem with geo-location when moving to IPv6 - are blocks of addresses not still assigned to specific countries?
 
I'd say the reluctance for IPv6 is all about the cost - the cost must be mind boggling for any company who need to upgrade a /16 or above, (=255x255 ip addresses)

What is the problem with geo-location when moving to IPv6 - are blocks of addresses not still assigned to specific countries?

I don't see why it can't be done, but the suggestion seems to be that the ISP's may use a system that breaks it.

I would have expected IPv6 to be an improvement as static IP addresses would become the norm, which would make it EASIER for casinos to track the activity from a specific internet connection. Maybe it's this specific tracking that ISPs feel customers don't want, so they may block it on the grounds of privacy, rather than technical abilities.

For players, having a static IP would be a benefit as the casino will be able to tell whether the account is being accessed from where it normally is, and this could be a tool to protect players against having their accounts hacked. If a different IPv6 address is detected, the casino software could use enhanced security to double check that the account is still in the hands of it's rightful owner. This can be done with the current system, but dynamic IP addresses make it too annoying for customers to implement across the board. The MAC of a particular device can also be used as a security measure, and banks here are now starting to do this for online banking, but it appears to rely on cookies, rather than remote logging of registered devices. This can make it annoying.

For fraudsters, IPv6 could make things a little harder, less "wriggle room" over IP address tracking.

Unfortunately, geolocation is only as accurate as the databases, and it has been clear that this leaves something to be desired. The problems MGS faced when blocking players from Kentucky shows this, some Kentucky players were not blocked, and some players outside of Kentucky were, and this was down to inaccurate geolocation. It even happens in the UK with wrongful denial of access to BBC services and the National Lottery online site.
 

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