Antigua and Barbuda Pwns America at WTO

[Toro]

But then there is nothing run-of-the-mill about the case that Mr. [Mark] Mendel, a Texan who was born and raised in Southern California, has been waging against his own government before the World Trade Organization, the body in Geneva that sets the ground rules for global trade. It is a clash that at once challenges Washington’s effort to prohibit online gambling while simultaneously testing the ability of the W.T.O. to enforce its own standards.

The dispute stretches back to 2003, when Mr. Mendel first persuaded officials in Antigua and Barbuda, a tiny nation in the Caribbean with a population of around 70,000, to instigate a trade complaint against the United States, claiming its ban against Americans gambling over the Internet violated Antigua and Barbuda’s rights as a member of the W.T.O.

Antigua is best known to Americans for its pristine beaches and tourist attractions like historic English Harbor. But the dozens of online casinos based there are vital to the island’s economy, serving as its second-largest employer.

More than a few people in Washington initially dismissed as absurd the idea that the trade organization could claim jurisdiction over something as basic as a country’s own policies toward gambling. Various states and the federal government, after all, have been deeply engaged for decades in where and when to allow the operation of casinos, Indian gambling halls, racetracks, lotteries and the like.

But a W.T.O. panel ruled against the United States in 2004, and its appellate body upheld that decision one year later. In March, the organization upheld that ruling for a second time and declared Washington out of compliance with its rules. ...

[N]ot complying with the decision presents big problems of its own for Washington. That’s because Mr. Mendel, who is claiming $3.4 billion in damages on behalf of Antigua, has asked the trade organization to grant a rare form of compensation if the American government refuses to accept the ruling: permission for Antiguans to violate intellectual property laws by allowing them to distribute copies of American music, movie and software products, among others. ...

In April 2005, the trade body gave the United States one year to comply with its ruling, but that deadline passed with little more than a statement from Washington that it had reviewed its laws and decided it has been in compliance all along. The case is now before an arbitration body charged with assessing damages.

One reason for all the interest is the David-and-Goliath aspect of the case. Another is that the dispute, as the trade organization’s first to deal with the Internet, is likely to serve as a major precedent in establishing rules of commerce in an online age and dealing with such prickly issues as China’s attempts to block online content it finds offensive.

Yet another reason the fraternity of trade lawyers and experts are so closely watching the case, Mr. Van Den Hende said, is “that the U.S. is not behaving as one would expect.”

“One day they’re out there saying how scandalous it is that China doesn’t respect W.T.O. decisions,” he said. “But then the next day there’s a dispute that doesn’t go their way and their attitude is: The decision is completely wrong, these judges don’t know what they’re doing, why should we comply?” ...

Washington responded to Antigua’s complaint by claiming it was within its rights to seek to block online gambling on moral grounds, just as any Muslim country would be within its rights under international trade agreements to ban the import of alcoholic beverages. The W.T.O. rejected this argument as inconsistent with American policy.

The general rule in the world of international trade agreements is that a country must treat foreign goods and services in the same manner as it treats domestic ones. The United States, the trade body found, permits online wagering through sites like Youbet.com, a publicly traded company that allows visitors to place bets at horse racing tracks around the globe.

And, of course, some form of casino gambling is legal in more than 30 states, and even local governments advertise gambling services when states encourage people to buy a lottery ticket.

“This isn’t a case of forcing gambling on a population that has decided they don’t like it,” Mr. Mendel said. “This is the world’s biggest consumer and exporter of gambling services trying to prohibit a small country from developing its economy by offering these same services. And we find that deeply hypocritical.”

Indeed, despite all the obstacles Washington has imposed, including making it a crime for banks and credit card companies to handle Internet gambling payments, millions of Americans still manage to play poker and place sports bets online. Many more would certainly do so if the obstacles were removed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/b...=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Tsk, tsk, tsk America. Chastizing others for not playing by the rules when America does not as well.

 

[onedomino]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/b...=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Tsk, tsk, tsk America. Chastizing others for not playing by the rules when America does not as well.

Tsk tsk? Nice attitude. They get to steal American movies and music as "compensation" for the US not allowing internet gambling? Absurd, no matter what the "rules." America should block their cable and satellite communications with the mainland and see how they like that "compensation."

 

[Toro]

Tsk tsk? Nice attitude. They get to steal American movies and music as "compensation" for the US not allowing internet gambling? Absurd, no matter what the "rules." America should block their cable and satellite communications with the mainland and see how they like that "compensation."

The WTO has not yet ruled whether or not that is just compensation. However, since America is refusing to abide by the rules it helped create, such compensation, or some similar penalty, is fair.

Besides, it ain't cable and satellite that matters. Its what you are typing with right now.

 

[onedomino]

The WTO has not yet ruled whether or not that is just compensation. However, since America is refusing to abide by the rules it helped create, such compensation, or some similar penalty, is fair.

Besides, it ain't cable and satellite that matters. Its what you are typing with right now.

And how do you think computers communicate from an island? Cable and satellite.

 

[Toro]

And how do you think computers communicate from an island? Cable and satellite.

Yeah, but it is a practical impossibility to cut that communication link off. There isn't a cable that runs directly from those two islands right to US. Instead, they are part of a network linked to other islands and, I believe, South America. You would have to shut down large parts of the Caribbean, which would not only be illegal under international trade rules, what benefit is it to the service providers? Its not their battle. Why should they take the economic hit for the US gaming industry, which is the group that got this law passed in the first place.

 

[onedomino]

Yeah, but it is a practical impossibility to cut that communication link off. There isn't a cable that runs directly from those two islands right to US. Instead, they are part of a network linked to other islands and, I believe, South America. You would have to shut down large parts of the Caribbean, which would not only be illegal under international trade rules, what benefit is it to the service providers? Its not their battle. Why should they take the economic hit for the US gaming industry, which is the group that got this law passed in the first place.

Didn't know you were so versed on the communications infrastructure of the Caribbean. Hmmm...they want free movies and music? Maybe we should carpet bomb their servers with Linsay Lohan films, 750 recently found episodes of Charmed, and 95 million MP3s by Britney Spears. They didn't say what movies and music did they?

 

[dilloduck]

Didn't know you were so versed on the communications infrastructure of the Caribbean. Hmmm...they want free movies and music? Maybe we should carpet bomb their servers with Linsay Lohan films, 750 recently found episodes of Charmed, and 95 million MP3s by Britney Spears. They didn't say what movies and music did they?

Does the WTO have a big ass army they can use to enforce all these "rulings" ?

 

[Mr.Conley]

Does the WTO have a big ass army they can use to enforce all these "rulings" ?

Power only comes from the barrel of a gun then?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

WTO is out of control. Has been for some time now.

 

[Diuretic]

WTO is out of control. Has been for some time now.

Better than war though, no?

 

[Diuretic]

Power only comes from the barrel of a gun then?

Was that originally from Chairman Mao? It rings a bell.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Better than war though, no?

Ya much better to have your power to rule your country stripped away by foreigners with no shot fired. Sure thing.

 

[Diuretic]

Ya much better to have your power to rule your country stripped away by foreigners with no shot fired. Sure thing.

WTO only covers international trade. If you want to trade internationally, you observe the rules. If you don't want to observe the rules, you don't trade.

 

[dilloduck]

WTO only covers international trade. If you want to trade internationally, you observe the rules. If you don't want to observe the rules, you don't trade.

Rubbish--countries ignore international trade rulings all the time. I would like to see the WTO try and ban the US from international trading.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

WTO only covers international trade. If you want to trade internationally, you observe the rules. If you don't want to observe the rules, you don't trade.

Yup thats why France can have all the protectionist policies it wants and the WTO does nothing about it. Or Greece can ban online gambling and no charge is made against them, sure thing.

 

[Toro]

Rubbish--countries ignore international trade rulings all the time. I would like to see the WTO try and ban the US from international trading.

And the WTO levies penalties against countries that don't abide by trading rules all the time.

 

[Toro]

Yup thats why France can have all the protectionist policies it wants and the WTO does nothing about it. Or Greece can ban online gambling and no charge is made against them, sure thing.

Or America continues to ignore multiple international rulings for two decades on softwood lumber.