According to Russian players, open DNS servers still make it available to access the market leading poker site.
As of 20 September, Russian players who have contracts with one of the largest internet providers in the country, Beeline, cannot access the PokerStars.com domain. They are confronted with the message upon trying to enter the site: “Access to the requested resource has been blocked by the decision of public authorities.” The PokerStars.com domain has been officially blacklisted by Beeline.ru. According to the provider, it is required of them to block access to sites that offer banned information or services.
To date, only PokerStars of the major international operators has been blacklisted by Beeline. Blocking the domain means the provider has deleted it from its DNS; still, Russian players report that open DNS servers, like Google’s Public DNS still provide access to the site. These methods cannot be blocked by the Russian state or providers.
In Russia, online gambling is illegal and yet most internet providers allow access to sites offering such services. Last year, legal action was taken for the first time in the matter, the state prosecution trying the force internet provider Rostelecom to block these sites.
First, the City Court ruled that Rostelecom has no such obligations whatsoever; while online gambling is illegal, allowing access to it is not. Eventually, however, the Supreme Court decided otherwise, concluding that allowing access to and distribution of illegal information and services are clearly illegal. As a result, internet providers have to block such content, including online gambling sites, or face being blacklisted by the Russian Ministry of Justice and losing their licenses.
Beeline is the first provider to start blocking online poker rooms after the final ruling of last November, which have not had any previous consequences.