Antigua comes out strong on the Internet gambling issue

The tinny nation of Antigua and Barbuda today voiced a strong opposition to the stance of the USA Trade Department and encouraged other countries from the World Trade Organization (WTO) to join them.

Antigua comes out strong on the Internet gambling issue Antigua won the battle against the USA after WTO panel ruled in March that America's decision to ban offshore online gambling companies and allow US-based was illegal. But the war was not over, and the USA representatives are working on a solution which would exclude Internet gambling from any agreements with WTO countries.

This move by the US angered the Antigua officials and today they threatened to target American trademarks, copyrights and telecommunications companies. Ambassador John Ashe of Antigua was quoted:

"Not only do we think that members should press claims for compensatory adjustments as a matter of economic self-interest, but we also believe it is important that the process is made as difficult as possible for the United States. Maybe we'll target telecoms. Intellectual property rights — that's a way we can possibly fight back."

The online gambling dispute between Antigua and the USA could prove one of the most difficult WTO has ever settled, and opens the doors for negotiations of agreements between USA and many countries, including the E.U., which could start thinking to themselves in the lines of "If the USA can revise agreements to their benefit, so can we." U.S. declined to challenge today's adoption of the Internet gambling ruling, because it says that its legal maneuver effectively ends the case.

Two big countries - Brazil and India - both said the United States was obliged by law to compensate Antigua if it wants to now redefine its services obligations. The E.U. questioned how the new clarification of the USA ban on online betting would eliminate the discrimination that allows for American companies providing offshore betting on horses and other services to remain in business.

The European Union has always taken the position that it will protect it's interests, namely the British and some Scandinavian publicly traded online gambling companies which lost millions after the UIGEA.

05/22/2007