October 6, 2006

Online gaming firms plan counterattack: Antigua to hold press conference Monday

Tiny Antigua is center of international pressure on ‘protectionist’ U.S. online gambling law, Cassimir Medford of Red Herring writes.

"It’s a long shot, but the industry will attempt to bring additional international pressure on the United States on the grounds that the law is protectionist and discriminatory (see Net Gambling Feels Aftershocks).

"The chief executive of United Kingdom-based Sportingbet, Nigel Payne, is currently on the 108-square-mile island conferring with the Antiguan government. Many of the large online gambling firms licensed in Antigua are also in touch with the government.

"The Antiguan government is in the process of amending its complaint to the World Trade Organization to include the latest U.S. law, which the government believes is at odds with a 2005 ruling made by the WTO. The WTO ruled in Antigua’s favor in the trade dispute with the U.S."

The WTO ruled last year that the U.S. has inconsistently applied gaming laws so as to prejudice foreign countries, in violation of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Both the U.S. and Antigua are GATS signatories.
While many of you might be laughing at the idea of the mighty United States government bowing to tiny Antigua, it should be pointed out that the US government has been working diligently with the World Trade Organization in its efforts to stop China's lucrative counterfeiting industry. Were the US government to thumb its nose up at the WTO, this would send some seriously distorted messages to the rest of the world and China might not be so willing to cooperate either (not to mention the WTO would step down its involvement in the matter).

“The U.S. government wants to enjoy the benefits of the WTO, but it does not want to be obligated by the tenets of international law when it rules against it,” an Antiguan official told Red Herring.

Meanwhile, eGaming Review Magazine reported Friday afternoon that Antigua and Barbuda will be holding a press conference on Monday to attempt to explain the inconsistency and inapplicability of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.