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I was so freaked out about the recent anti-internet gambling legislation in the US, and how it will affect my life, that Antigua and Barbuda completely slipped my mind. A lot of people are going to be out of work due to this legislation but some entire countries will be devastated. Antigua and Barbuda are two countries that are definitely upset over the upcoming law in the US. They have been relying on online gambling companies for the bulk of their national income for years now. Antigua and Barbuda saw their potential future if internet gambling ever became illegal in the United States and it wasn't pretty. Jay Cohen is an online sports book owner whose company is based in Antigua. Back in 2000 Cohen was arrested in the United States for owning an online sports book that allowed for telephone bets from the United States. He took the case to court, rather than settling, because he didn't think he would lose. Unfortunately, he was wrong and ended up spending two years in jail. During this time he learned that Antigua and Barbuda have a case against the United States with the World Trade Organization (WTO) for infringements on free trade. Cohen convinced Antigua and Barbuda to take the US to WTO court. The WTO decided that by banning internet gambling the US was not allowing for free trade. They concluded that it's hypocritical for the United States to allow for internet lotteries and pari-mutuel betting inside the country but ban off-shore online casinos. The WTO actually ruled against the United States and ruled that the US had to make their laws consistent by April 2006. Instead the US chose to ignore the WTO ruling completely. After all, what could Antigua and Barbuda really do? Economic sanctions on the US would hurt them more than it would hurt the US. The US treated them like a fly on the back of an elephant, they just weren't worth the effort to notice. I did remember reading on the American Gaming Association website around April that the WTO had overturned their decision regarding the US, but I never found any further information regarding the supposed overturn. Finally the US makes their laws even less fair to foreign trade and makes depositing directly into an online gambling establishment completely illegal. While there are plenty of ways to get around this law, all reputable internet gambling casinos, sports books, and poker rooms have announced that they will be blocking US players once the law is signed by President Bush. The industry which grew to $12 billion dollars a year on a very American clientele is now almost back to square one. Most of the internet gambling sites out there cater to the US. This means heavy lay-offs and a complete change in direction while they rebuild. It also means that Antigua and Barbuda will be hurting for awhile. Antigua is still waiting for the WTO to review US legislation. It was meant to be completed in three months, but has been delayed. The new panel decision is expected for February of 2007. Mark Mendel is Antigua’s legal representative in its WTO Internet gambling dispute with the US. He's working to fight the economic protectionism that the US is asserting over their jurisdiction. It’s his opinion that the new law has nothing to do with morality and everything to do with money. “The key is that it’s not really about morals; it’s not about really about gambling, it’s about fair trade. We’re a very small country with very limited assets. We have been willing to be very accommodating to the US in working out some kind of settlement and I just think it’s about fairness,” Mendel said. “I think this bill is going to make it worse for the US because it has already raised the hackles of people in Europe and it has brought the issue out to the forefront where it increases our ability to discuss it publicly. That’s been difficult before, because it’s hard to raise the profile of the issue, but now they themselves have put it square out front and it’s going to give us an opportunity to talk about how discriminatory the US is being, how unfair their laws are and, using assistance from other countries, put pressure on them to actually deal with the issue fairly and satisfactorily,” he said. The US listened to Mendel's opinions and yawned. Then they stretched out their legs and decided to take a nap. When is Antigua and Barbuda going to get it? This isn't a David and Goliath story where the little guy wins. This is the story where the little guy tries to fight the bully and the big brawny bully just puts out his arm and the little scrawny guy is left there flailing away. Anyone with a brain in their cranium understands that internet gambling eats the online profits away. This isn't even about pari-mutuel wagering, which has simply been left legal because some states already have it as legal and why rock the boat. Lotteries don't just mean big money for states, they mean HUGE money. Unless internet gambling finds a way to pay each individual state more than that state will earn once off-shore online gambling is banned and online lotteries are full-force then one can forget about the off-shore gambling ban being overturned. The WTO is defenseless against the US. Antigua and Barbuda are defenseless against the US. Even with the gaping holes in the legislation allowing for things like Neteller deposits, Congress has won. They have won because no decent online casino, sports book, or poker room will take a bet from US players once this bill is signed into law. They have won because the sites left which will accept a US player will be crap, and exactly the type of site they have been trying to warn people about. No one wins from this new legislation, because those who want to gamble online will be able to find a way but they won't have a good assortment of fair sites to choose from, and the good sites which are honest won't allow access to US players. Posted on: October 11, 2006
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