The Mouse that Roared

September 6, 2007

A wonderful editorial in Newsday this week spoke of Antigua as the “mouse that roared” and it could not be a better description of the country. For such a tiny island, they have made the powerhouse known as the US stand up and take notice of them and their online gambling issues. They have done something that many other countries would not do, or would have failed at doing, and that is stand up against the United States.

The US passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and in doing so hurt the tiny island of Antigua. The second largest industry in the country is online gambling, and by blocking them the US hurt the financial condition of the country greatly. When they first brought the online gambling problem up to the US they could not have cared less – well, they care now.

Antigua took their case to the World Trade Organization (WTO) who agreed with them and told the US that they had to comply with the same rules and regulations that everyone has to. The US turned around and said no; that they weren’t doing anything wrong.

As everyone is more than aware by now that they are, they put themselves in a bit of a bind with that one. Antigua could have turned around and called it a loss, but when pushed – they pushed back. They have actually won twice now against us, but it is now up to the WTO to decide what damages will be imposed on us. They could be looking at copyright laws, etc. that will now be allowed to be compromised.

The US has been looking at regulating online gambling and now is definitely the time to do it, before trade sanctions and other problems get us into hot water with the governments of any other countries. It just goes to show you, you don’t have to be big and powerful to win when you are right.




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