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In 2003, when Antigua first asked the WTO to examine America’s online gambling stance,
America’s defense centered on its proclaimed necessity to protect its citizens from the perils of online gambling. In 2005, a WTO Appellate Body concluded that America had the right to insist on such protection, but it couldn’t claim to be protecting its citizens from foreign firms while simultaneously permitting its domestic horse racing industry to offer interstate online wagering.
This contradiction was a clear violation of US obligations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The WTO gave the US 11 months to either allow Antigua access to the US market or shut down US domestic online horse wagering. A year went by without any action from the US, so Antigua went back to the WTO. In March 2007, a WTO Compliance Panel determined that the US had not lived up to its obligations and thus sanctions should be imposed. When it came time to determine the amount of those sanctions, Antigua went high ($3.4b) and the US went low ($500k). In December 2007, the WTO decided Antigua was entitled to $21m in annual damages. If the US refused to pay, Antigua was permitted to collect by other means, such as disregarding intellectual property obligations to the US. Antigua has yet to exercise this option, still hoping the US will choose to honor its treaty obligations. In the meantime, the total outstanding claim has accumulated to over $120m.
Mark Mendel
‘OLD RELIABLE’ JUST WON’T CUT IT ANYMORE
Mark Mendel, Antigua’s lead attorney in the WTO dispute with the US, told CalvinAyre.com that the DoJ’s pre-Christmas bombshell had “vaporized … the entire defense. The American government has now admitted that we were right all along in our assertions about US gaming law. It is going to be very hard for them to fall back on the ‘old reliable’ that they ban all remote gaming because it is incapable of regulation. I am hopeful that they will realize at this point that settlement is in everyone’s best interest and engage on a constructive basis with Antigua.”
Problem is, as Mendel knows all too well, “to date, [the Americans] have simply ignored the whole thing.” It’s tempting to conclude that the US attitude towards the WTO is like how Robert De Niro’s character in Casino described the betting habits of Joe Pesci’s character Nicky Santorro. “When he won, he collected. When he lost, he told the bookies to go **** themselves. I mean, what were they going to do, muscle Nicky? Nicky was the muscle.”
Looking ahead, Mendel says Antigua is considering a number of options, including “commencing a new case altogether.” In arriving at the $21m annual compensation figure, the WTO used a formula that considered only Antigua’s theoretical share of the US online horse wagering market. Given the imminent expansion of online betting options in the US, that horse-racing-only formula now seems even more insufficient.
Full Story CalvinAyre.com
America’s defense centered on its proclaimed necessity to protect its citizens from the perils of online gambling. In 2005, a WTO Appellate Body concluded that America had the right to insist on such protection, but it couldn’t claim to be protecting its citizens from foreign firms while simultaneously permitting its domestic horse racing industry to offer interstate online wagering.
This contradiction was a clear violation of US obligations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The WTO gave the US 11 months to either allow Antigua access to the US market or shut down US domestic online horse wagering. A year went by without any action from the US, so Antigua went back to the WTO. In March 2007, a WTO Compliance Panel determined that the US had not lived up to its obligations and thus sanctions should be imposed. When it came time to determine the amount of those sanctions, Antigua went high ($3.4b) and the US went low ($500k). In December 2007, the WTO decided Antigua was entitled to $21m in annual damages. If the US refused to pay, Antigua was permitted to collect by other means, such as disregarding intellectual property obligations to the US. Antigua has yet to exercise this option, still hoping the US will choose to honor its treaty obligations. In the meantime, the total outstanding claim has accumulated to over $120m.
Mark Mendel
‘OLD RELIABLE’ JUST WON’T CUT IT ANYMORE
Mark Mendel, Antigua’s lead attorney in the WTO dispute with the US, told CalvinAyre.com that the DoJ’s pre-Christmas bombshell had “vaporized … the entire defense. The American government has now admitted that we were right all along in our assertions about US gaming law. It is going to be very hard for them to fall back on the ‘old reliable’ that they ban all remote gaming because it is incapable of regulation. I am hopeful that they will realize at this point that settlement is in everyone’s best interest and engage on a constructive basis with Antigua.”
Problem is, as Mendel knows all too well, “to date, [the Americans] have simply ignored the whole thing.” It’s tempting to conclude that the US attitude towards the WTO is like how Robert De Niro’s character in Casino described the betting habits of Joe Pesci’s character Nicky Santorro. “When he won, he collected. When he lost, he told the bookies to go **** themselves. I mean, what were they going to do, muscle Nicky? Nicky was the muscle.”
Looking ahead, Mendel says Antigua is considering a number of options, including “commencing a new case altogether.” In arriving at the $21m annual compensation figure, the WTO used a formula that considered only Antigua’s theoretical share of the US online horse wagering market. Given the imminent expansion of online betting options in the US, that horse-racing-only formula now seems even more insufficient.
Full Story CalvinAyre.com
