Antigua one step closer to favorable online gambling ruling

In the legal battle between United States and Antigua about online gambling restrictions, US has suffered another blow. According to a confidential report issued by the World Trade Organization (WTO) U.S. has not taken the steps necessary to resolve the now four-year long issue of internet gambling.

A ruling in 2005 against prohibition of online gambling, and since then, the USA has taken more steps and passed additional laws to prohibit online gambling in the country. The WTO does allow countries to ban foreign services, as long as they have local laws in place prohibiting the same services in their own country. Something U.S. has not done, because they have continuously excluded online horse race betting and online lotteries from all laws prohibiting online gambling.

Spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative has downplayed the WTO report, saying that it was a mere technicality in the federal law. United States still has time to appeal and submit comments to the WTO.