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US
handed
deadline
on
Internet
gambling
issue
August
19
Today,
a
World
Trade
Organization
mediator
gave
the
United
States
a
deadline
for
terminating
discrimination
against
foreign
online
gambling
companies.
The
April
3,
2006
deadline
has
been
announced
after
a
complaint
was
officially
filed
by
the
island
of
Antigua
in
the
Caribbean.
On
April
7th
of
this
year,
WTO
judges
ruled
that
the
US
ban,
in
the
interests
of
public
morals,
can
remain
only
as
long
as
the
prohibitions
do
not
discriminate
against
the foreign
companies
themselves.
The
US
has
announced
that
it
will
abide
by
the WTO
rules
by
amending
its
margins,
without
opening
the
doorway
to
foreign
online
gambling.
C ompanies
based
in
Antigua
such
as Sportingbet
Plc
and
BetWWTS.com,
account
for
approximately
25%
of
bets
in
the
estimated
$7
billion
to
$12
billion
online
gambling industry.
Antigua
developed
online
gambling
to
boost
its
lagging
economy
after
a
series
of
hurricanes
caused
tourism
in
the
island
to
slow
down.
The
Carribean
island
wants
access
to
the
US
gambling
market.
People
in
the
US
account
for
about
55%
of
online
wagers.
The
island
nation
of
Antigua,
with
under
68,000
residents,
is
the
smallest WTO
government
ever
to
implant
a
complaint,
the
country
became
victorious
against
US
online
gambling
restrictions
last November,
when WTO
judges
announced
the
Bush
administration
had
failed
to
rationalize
the
ban
on
moral
grounds.
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