Antigua Shafted By US Double Standards for Online Gambling

Antigua and Barbuda are a small twin-island country that is angry at the United States and World Trade Organization (WTO). Due to an ongoing battle between the two countries over online gambling news, Antigua says that the behavior of the WTO in the matter shows that smaller countries simply do not have the influence to get the WTO to enforce their rules.

In mid-December of 2012, Antigua announced in Geneva, Switzerland that they were no longer able to continue financing a solution. Their representative addressed the WTO Secretariat about ongoing violations by the US that started in 2004. In summary, the WTO allows for Internet gambling but the US continues to arrest citizens of Antigua for violating American laws about online betting.

The WTO recognizes that the US is in violation but has not enforced any real penalty. Despite several attempts at the great expense of Antigua, an equitable resolution or compromise has not been reached. This means that Antigua is owed a considerable amount of money but cannot get adequate help from the WTO to collect from America.

The WTO has given Antigua the ability to ban trade with the US, but this has a limit far below the cost of what Antigua is losing by not being able to offer safe online gambling to Americans. Currently, the government of Antigua estimates that the US owes them $3.5 billion.

So far, the most that the US has offered is half a million dollars. In the near future, there are no immediate plans for the WTO to collect on this policy violation. This means that the US will continue to prevent payments from going to countries like Antigua. The prosecution of this case has financially exhausted this tropical country and it is unlikely that they will give up so easily. The turning point in this story will occur when the WTO Dispute Settlement Body Unit makes a final decision on the matter in 2013.

This post was happily prepared by the chaps at Australia’s premier online sport betting website. If you’d like to know more about online betting laws, check out their blog today.