RGA CEO Answers Mendel US Online Gambling Assertions
Clive Hawkswood, the Chief Executive of the Remote Gaming Association, responded today to inquiries by Online Casino Advisory regarding comments made by Antigua lead attorney Mark Mendel. Mendel had offered the opinion in an interview with MajorWager that the investigation sought by the RGA and pursued by the European Commission was toothless, as the EC had bargained away any claims in its settlement of the US withdrawal from its commitment regarding online gambling under the General Agreement on Trade in Services.
Mr. Hawkswood explains that the settlement, terms of which have not been disclosed by the US, only solved the problem of withdrawing the commitment from the date of the settlement (December 2007) forward. The current complaint, a totally separate issue under the law, revolves around the US refusal to honor that commitment while it was in effect.
Mr. Hawkswood notes two distinct concerns with US actions. One is that the US broke the GATS accord "by pursuing enforcement action against EU individuals and businesses for conducting trade (ie online gambling) that should have been permissable under that Agreement." That is, the Department of Justice continues to persecute and harass online casinos and their representatives for actions that were legitimate under GATS, as in the PartyGaming case.
The second violation by US policies concerns the singling out of foreign entities for prosecution. US law enforcement seeks to prosecute European online gambling operators, "but it has not taken similar action against US based companies and so it has acted in a discriminatory fashion."
Mr. Hawkswood notes that, while Mr. Mendel is correct in observing the settlement of ongoing Internet gambling issues between the US and the EU, the issue of prosecution for accepting trade from the US before the amendment of the GATS could properly be resolved with the dismissal of further attempts to retroactively enforce prosecutions against EU companies, accompanied by a second negotiated settlement.
Like much of the Internet community, the US financial system, many libertarians, and online gaming operators, Mr. Hawkswood is hopeful that the Obama administration will bring a fresh and objective viewpoint to Internet gambling regulation.
The RGA head says, "... we believe that sooner or later that (legalization and regulation) will be the outcome, not least because it is in the interests of the US government and gamblers to ensure that tax revenues are retained and that operators with strong consumer protections and the best products in place are able to market themselves properly." Could not have said it better.
