WTO to Force US to Stop the Ban
29th August, 2007
A very small twin-island nation in the Caribbean inhabited by 80,000 people, Antigua and Barbuda, could oblige the powerful nation of United States to reconsider laws that made all online gambling illegal with offshore casinos.
Antigua already won twice when appealing against the ban before the World Trade Organization, which makes us wonder if it would not be more sensible to replace the ban with the guideline that would guarantee the financial integrity of gaming in cyberspace, to make sure the access to minors is completely impossible and finally to generate enough cut in taxes for US. Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-Mass.) introduced the legislation that offers a very reasonable starting point for the debate in Congress. There are in total 32 online casino operators in Antigua, and in 2003 it initiated a trade complaint, which argued that the US gambling law breaches its rights considering they are a member of the global free trade community policed by the WTO. It won two years in a row, in 2004 and in 2005. The US appealed again and the verdict was confirmed again in 2007. Now WTO has to decide which damages to enforce.
Washington has just two options to choose from: ether they allow US citizens to gamble online with offshore casinos or prohibit online wagering all together. The second option is pretty radical, as it would spread from online poker to sports betting and maybe even include the lottery ticket online sales.
All in all, it seems that US should follow the WTO verdict and allow online casino gambling, whilst working to protect American consumers the best it can
