News

Tuesday, 10 May 2011 00:40

Antigua and Barbuda are making a stand against the mighty United States at the World Trade Organisation. They say the recent action against three poker sites violates international trade laws.

The tiny but spirited Caribbean nation has a history of going up against the might of the US at the WTO over the Internet gambling business and efforts by the US to prevent their citizens from using gambling websites based offshore. With the latest crackdown by federal prosecutors, who seized the domains and effectively closed down the three largest Internet poker websites and charged the owners and several key people with serious offences such as money laundering and fraud, officials of the island nation are set to go into battle yet again.

The main area for contention is the way that crackdowns on foreign betting websites are carried out. They are seen as protectionist and illegal in a country that permits gambling for money in its own casinos and also allows online bets to be taken on state run horse racing events within the United States. The legal advisor for Antigua's government has said that there is no other country anywhere in the world where people are jailed for conducting business that is legal under international law. 

Online gambling has become the second-largest employer on the tiny Caribbean nation after tourism. Antigua is adamant that betting operators based on the island have the legal right to provide online gambling services to consumers in the US. The WTO agrees.

This will not be the first time that the Caribbean nation has gone head to head with the US over their stance on online gambling. In 2005 the WTO ruled the US was in violation of international trade agreements on services when they prosecuted operators of Internet gambling websites based offshore. Arguments by the US that it was necessary to make those restrictions for protecting public morality were rejected by the WTO.

In 2007, the WTO gave Antigua permission to suspend a reciprocal amount in the intellectual property rights that were held by US companies in retaliation for the US ban on online gambling. Although Antigua claimed they were losing $3.4billion per year, the WTO set the figure at $21million.

Government officials from Antigua and Barbuda will meet this week in order to discuss approaching the WTO over these latest prosecutions and closedowns of poker websites based on the islands by the US. They intend to seek further sanctions against the US over this debacle.