Antigua Defenseless Against American Gambling Improprieties
The tiny island nation of Antigua thought that, by entering into multinational treaties, it could protect itself against mistreatment by larger and more powerful countries. But it seems Antigua's fate is to bullied mercilessly by the United States, and some of the very treaties the little country thought would help its case are hurting it now.
Antigua's economy has received a much-needed boost in recent years from online casinos based on the island. However, a 2006 law passed by the U.S. Congress made it illegal for American banks and credit card companies to process payments by their customers to gambling operations, even if located outside the United States. This effectively denies Antigua access to the giant U.S. gaming market.
Because both countries are members of the World Trade Organization, Antigua went before an arbitration committee from the international free trade group seeking damages against the U.S. in the amount of $3.4 billion. The WTO ruled last month in Antigua's favor, but only in the amount of $21 million, less than a drop in the bucket for the U.S.
Still, $21 million is far more significant to Antigua, and the country set its eye on how best to recoup its losses suffered at American hands, as judged fit by the impartial committee. The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS Agreement, as governed by the WTO, allows for Antigua to suspend U.S. copyrights and protections to satisfy the damages, and this seemed to be the obvious course.
Yet now, Jorgen Blomqvist, the director of the Copyright Law Division of the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization, has warned Antigua that attempting to recover even the measly $21 million through the suspension of intellectual rights would put Antigua in violation of another major international treaty, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
According to the Antigua Sun, Blomqvist asserts that, even if TRIPS allows Antigua to proceed, the Berne Convention prevents that method of collection of what is due. Antigua Finance Minister Dr. Errol Cort disagrees with Blomqvist's reading of the treaties, and plans to continue to pursue his options. In the meantime, Dr. Cort traveled to Washington yesterday to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab in hopes of reaching an amicable settlement.
In the guise of a morality movement, the U.S. has effectively deprived Antigua of a huge source of revenue it was legally within its rights to pursue. It's not as if there are any shortage of gambling venues in the United States, so that online players might be tempted into "evil" not available on home shores. After all, there are 20 casinos in Iowa, 22 in Louisiana, and more to come in both states, just an example of proliferation of gambling venues.
No, the U.S. has no issue with gambling; it's letting even a penny avoid the tax collector's net that irks the federal government. Gambling in the U.S. is taxed heavily, while taxing online casinos is problematic at best. This is why Governor Patrick of Massachusetts is fighting for a bill to legalize three land casinos, while in the very same bill are provisions for jail time for online players! The U.S. government has used supposed high moral ground to violate the spirit and letter of free trade agreements it entered into, when the reality is the whole thing is a ploy over money. If the federal government could blush with shame, its cheeks should be a rosy red right now.
