WILLEMSTAD - Master licensee Cyberluck is indeed responsible for the actions of its sublicensees. This is the opinion of the judges in an appeal case brought by the SGBOK, the Belangenbehartigen Gedupeerden Online Kansspelen foundation, on behalf of two players and the online gambling sector, in this case Trigonon and license holder Cyberluck.
The Court of First Instance had previously ruled that Cyberluck, as a licensee, bore no responsibility for the actions of one of its sublicensees, Trigonon.
The two players had won money at two of the company's online websites, but the company refused to pay out the money. Not the first time in the online gambling sector: there are already several court rulings, which show that a player is not paid out, usually for high amounts.
The Court finds that both parties, the sub-licensed online companies and their master licensee Cyberluck are liable for payment of the prize money. An important reason for this is that the master license holder has a special duty of care.
They must guarantee that prize money won is paid out by its sublicensees. By not doing so, in this case Cyberluck, as a licensee, benefits from the failure of its outsourced online casinos. According to the judges, the online casino must be seen as an auxiliary person for the master license holder.
SGBOK also wanted to hold director Gouloud Hammoud of trust office Global Related Services liable. She is the director of Trigonon Group N.V.
But the judges disagreed. SBGOK's explanation was too brief, so that it is insufficiently plausible that Gouloud Hammoud can be personally blamed for the wrongful actions of Cyberluck.