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Gambling PhD - Online Casino News - March 2004
Antigua winning internet gambling fight
against US
26/03/2004
The World Trade
Organisation has ruled that the hard line taken by the US
on internet gambling is in breach of world trade rules.
The tiny Caribbean state of Antigua had complained that
the moralistic stance of the US was seriously damaging its
economy.
The decision, which is only
a preliminary ruling, came after Antigua and Barbuda
complained to the WTO last year that US prohibitions
against internet gambling are discriminatory and in breach
of international trade agreements that require the US to
allow foreign internet companies to offer their services
to US citizens.
Antigua and Barbuda, with a
population of less than 70,000, has an economy largely
dependent on tourism, but with a growing market in
internet gambling. According to a report on Caribbean Net
News.com, the country has lost around US$30 million since
the US began its attempts to restrict Americans’ access to
on-line gambling services.
Running an internet
gambling operation is generally illegal in the US, whether
it is based within the country or off-shore. In practice,
however, it is difficult for enforcement officials to
prevent US citizens accessing off-shore internet sites,
and the industry is therefore growing.
US criminal law applies to
companies operating out of the Caribbean, but it is often
difficult to physically get the accused into court to
adjudicate the matter. The most commonly used legislation
to control internet gambling is the Wire Communications
Act of 1961, albeit intended to prevent gambling over the
telephone.
The most recent attempts to
prevent US citizens gambling on-line focus on methods of
paying for the gambling services. Bills to ban the use of
credit cards or any other form of electronic payment for
off-shore internet gambling sites are going through the
Senate and House of Representatives at the moment.
One such bill was passed by
the House of Representatives in October 2002, only to fall
in the Senate less than three weeks later. In practice,
many credit card companies refuse to process gambling
transactions, but this is on a voluntary basis.
The Bush administration
looks set to appeal the Antigua decision, according to
Associated Press, and will argue that when the WTO was set
up in 1995, gambling services were excluded from its
remit.
A final ruling is not
expected until May.
Read the complete article
at:
Washington Post
Historical Archive
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