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With 2012 now upon us we are starting to see a number of European countries crack-down on unlicensed online poker providers, with France following in the footsteps of their neighbor to the west Belgium. Countries are now calling for ISP providers to block all unlicensed online gaming sites in the country.

The French decree comes from the state website Legifrance.gouv.fr and calls for all French ISPs to block residents of France from playing at any online gambling sites not licensed by the Autorité de Régulation Des Jeux en Ligne (ARJEL).

While the law itself has been on the books since France legalized online poker in 2010, the new decree is meant to ramp up the enforcement and put an end to unlicensed providers. Poker players are drawn to some of the unlicensed sites for a number of different reasons: Since the unlicensed sites do not pay taxes or an initial licensing fee to ARJEL rake can be lower at these sites, but more importantly unlicensed sites are able to offer French players access to a global player base, not simply other French residents.

Belgium, which recently licensed three online poker rooms of their own, is another country calling on ISPs to block unlicensed sites, and the pending Spanish regulations (set to go into effect at the end of June after a 6-month delay) would ask ISPs to do the same.

All that said, the big question will be whether or not the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) decide to enforce these laws, which have been criticized in some circles as violating EU laws.