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By Mark Choueke, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 11:48pm GMT 27/01/2007
The tiny Caribbean island of Antigua has won an unlikely victory against the US in bringing a successful challenge against its internet gaming laws before the World Trade Organisation.
The US has been rapped by the trade body for failing to act on its international commitments to provide access to third-country internet gaming providers.
The news will resonate in the UK given the arrest and detainment by the US of several British online gaming executives in recent weeks, all accused of flouting US internet gaming laws.
Last October the US Congress passed legislation banning most forms of internet gambling and which led to a number of operators such as PartyGaming withdrawing from the US market. Antigua originally challenged laws blocking non-US internet gaming companies from operating inside US borders in 2004. It argued that US trade officials had signed the 1995 GATS treaty, committing it to allowing foreign entrants to its lucrative online gaming market.
The US later lost an appeal and the WTO ordered it to comply, either by lifting its ban on foreign operators or by withdrawing a "discriminatory" exemption for US online horse-racing betting sites, within 18 months. This move, due to be made public in March, is recognition that nothing has been done by the US
Antigua has done well to come this far, say experts, who add that it will require international support if the US is to be effectively policed. One source close to the case said: "It seems a David and Goliath story, but the problem is that the case has been brought by Antigua which doesn't have the clout to impose sanctions on the US if it chooses not to comply with WTO rulings.
"I'm staggered that the British and European authorities have all turned a blind eye but several gaming executives are now considering a formal com-plaint to the European Commission."
Last Updated: 11:48pm GMT 27/01/2007
The tiny Caribbean island of Antigua has won an unlikely victory against the US in bringing a successful challenge against its internet gaming laws before the World Trade Organisation.
The US has been rapped by the trade body for failing to act on its international commitments to provide access to third-country internet gaming providers.
The news will resonate in the UK given the arrest and detainment by the US of several British online gaming executives in recent weeks, all accused of flouting US internet gaming laws.
Last October the US Congress passed legislation banning most forms of internet gambling and which led to a number of operators such as PartyGaming withdrawing from the US market. Antigua originally challenged laws blocking non-US internet gaming companies from operating inside US borders in 2004. It argued that US trade officials had signed the 1995 GATS treaty, committing it to allowing foreign entrants to its lucrative online gaming market.
The US later lost an appeal and the WTO ordered it to comply, either by lifting its ban on foreign operators or by withdrawing a "discriminatory" exemption for US online horse-racing betting sites, within 18 months. This move, due to be made public in March, is recognition that nothing has been done by the US
Antigua has done well to come this far, say experts, who add that it will require international support if the US is to be effectively policed. One source close to the case said: "It seems a David and Goliath story, but the problem is that the case has been brought by Antigua which doesn't have the clout to impose sanctions on the US if it chooses not to comply with WTO rulings.
"I'm staggered that the British and European authorities have all turned a blind eye but several gaming executives are now considering a formal com-plaint to the European Commission."
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