US Could Face WTO Sanctions Over Proposed Internet Gambling Law

[mandy]

US politicians have launched a fresh bid to stop overseas internet gambling sites reaching American users.

The move comes in the shape of a new bill being introduced in the House of Representatives with support from both Republican and Democrat members.

The bill aims to extend existing laws that ban interstate telephone gambling.

It would, however, fall foul of a World Trade Organization ruling last August that the US must not block online gambling sites based overseas.

full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4723814.stm

Gamble online and you could go to jail...

Gambling is bad. That's why the act only outlaws it when it takes place across state lines. When kept within state boundaries, it's apparently not so bad, and the bill does nothing to limit the rights of states to authorize gambling within their borders. As such, it seems bizarrely inconsistent and points up the contradictions in current US law as it applies to gambling. If the goal is stop money from being lost and laundered to shady outfits based in Antigua, then why is Internet gambling banned within the US as well? If the goal is to save citizens from addictive behaviors, then why do legal commercials run on my TV every night encouraging me to come to Vegas or drive down the road thirty minutes to Aurora?

full article: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060217-6204.html

related topic: Online Gaming Outfit 888 Holdings IPO Valued at £700m http://community.tuliptools.com/index.ph...289.0.html

[mandy]

Update:

The U.S. ban on Internet gambling is not in line with international trade policy, the World Trade Organization stated Friday. In a 51-page ruling, the WTO dispute settlement board found that the U.S. had not taken steps to better align its own domestic regulation of gambling with its prohibition against U.S. residents placing bets at overseas-based Internet casinos...

The WTO ruled in favor of the Caribbean nations of Antigua and Barbuda, which had filed a complaint in May of 2004 and had already won preliminary judgment against the U.S., including possible trade sanctions. That ruling said the U.S. had failed to live up to an earlier agreement to open up Internet gambling after it had put adequate regulations in place.

The U.S. had filed an appeal, which was essentially rejected in Friday's ruling...

ful article: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/iqEN...-Ban.xhtml

[Kristijntje]

Update:

But a W.T.O. panel ruled against the United States in 2004, and its appellate body upheld that decision one year later. In March, the organization upheld that ruling for a second time and declared Washington out of compliance with its rules...

But not complying with the decision presents big problems of its own for Washington. That’s because Mr. Mendel, who is claiming $3.4 billion in damages on behalf of Antigua, has asked the trade organization to grant a rare form of compensation if the American government refuses to accept the ruling: permission for Antiguans to violate intellectual property laws by allowing them to distribute copies of American music, movie and software products, among others...

full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/busine....html?_r=1&em&ex=1188014400&en=45639b242bae8fd2&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin

[rose]

has asked the trade organization to grant a rare form of compensation if the American government refuses to accept the ruling: permission for Antiguans to violate intellectual property laws by allowing them to distribute copies of American music, movie and software products, among others

:blinkie:

[mandy]

A related article:

A Brussels think-tank has accused the US government of reneging on commitments made to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over internet gaming.

Panellists at a trade forum levelled harsh criticism at the US, focusing on a burgeoning trade clash between the US and Europe over internet gaming.

The forum believes that the US could be liable for up to US$100 billion in trade concessions to European industries after placing illegal discriminatory trade restrictions on European gaming operators.

The disputed concessions arise from Antigua's victory earlier this year when the WTO ruled that the US violated its treaty obligations by excluding online Antiguan gaming operators, while allowing domestic operators to offer various forms of online gaming...

full article: http://www.itnews.com.au/News/62937,us-f...g-ban.aspx

[Kristijntje]

Update:

he United States faces a token $21 million in annual trade sanctions as a result of its online betting ban, the World Trade Organization said Friday in awarding Antigua and Barbuda the right to target U.S. services, copyrights and trademarks.

The decision is a setback for the Caribbean island nation, which sought the right to impose $3.4 billion in retaliatory measures against U.S. commercial services and intellectual property...

full article: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hK0rI...gD8TLUQDG0