U.S. Says No to WTO on Gambling Issue
The United States’ government seems reluctant to change its stand over online casino gambling. The World Trade Organization recently ruled in favor of Antigua in the case of online gambling, and still the United States won’t budge. Antigua took the United States to court in light of the enactment of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and the continuous discrimination of the United States’ government when it comes to online gambling. By not allowing internet gambling firms to offer services to the American public, the U.S. keeps the American gambling market outside of international firms’ reach and breaks international understandings. The World Trade Organization ruled in favor of Antigua and called the United States to revise its stand, but with little effect.
Not only that the United States won’t change its policy regarding online casino playing, the current administration decided to act unilaterally against the authority of the World Trade Organization. The U.S. decided to modify its original World Trade Organization agreements so that online gambling will remain outside of the body’s authority. This way, the United States does not break any international agreements but it does treat the international body with lack of respect and shows the true face of its online casino policy. Fortunately, the wave of responses did not take long to appear.
The Tax-News has released an article by Jeremy Hetherington-Gore that attacks the United State’s decision, and there are many other blunt responses. It seems that the United States is set at preventing American citizens from playing casino games on the net and that this administration will do what it takes to keep the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act standing. Although, there are dozens of other countries that did not include gambling in their international commitments, changing one’s commitment in light of the World Trade Organization’s demand is a clear statement against the organization’s authority. As it seems, even with new initiatives to change the current ban over the gambling industry, online gambling in American does not seem likely in the near future
