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    | May-05-2007 US won't lift ban on Web gambling(topic overview)CONTENTS:
REFERENCES
The measure signed into law by President George Bush in October prohibits U.S. banks and credit card companies from processing payments to online gambling businesses outside the United States, taking Internet gambling businesses by surprise. These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same. [1] In March, the WTO ruled the U.S. ban on offshore Internet gambling payments is illegal and sided with the twin Caribbean island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, which said U.S. ban was dicriminatory. The Geneva-based WTO said the United States can maintain restrictions on online gambling as long as its applies them equally to American operators providing remote betting on horse racing.[2] The U.S. is looking to World Trade Organization procedure to explain its online gambling ban following the body's March ruling that the country's laws unfairly target offshore casinos. The WTO process would allow the U.S. to clarify its stance on the issue so there would be no basis for any WTO member to seek or expect compensation, a U.S. trade representative told the Associated Press Friday.[3] BUSTED BY THE World Trade Organization for discriminating against offshore betting shops, the U.S. government is attempting a procedural maneuver to make the WTO go away. It's a legalistic move that underscores the hypocrisy of the government's approach to gambling.[4] Antigua has conducted a four-year struggle at the WTO against the United States prohibition on the cross-border provision of gambling and betting services that resulted in a resounding defeat of the U.S. over the trade issue.[5] Sallie James, a trade policy analyst with the Washington-based Cato Institute think tank, said the U.S. "is in the wrong and it knows it, but it doesn't want to open up markets on gambling and betting services so it wants to change the law it has to abide by."[6] "U.S. federal and state laws have banned interstate gambling for decades, therefore it would be nonsensical for the U.S. to make a comittment to open up interstate gambling for foreign providers when it was unlawful for U.S. providers," trade representative John K. Veroneau told the Associated Press.[3] Veroneau said that the U.S. commitment to free trade in "recreational services" was not intended to included Internet gambling, which did not exist at the time.[7] The Geneva-based global trade referee said Washington could restrict online gambling as long as the restrictions apply equally to U.S. companies offering offshore betting on horse racing.[6] Antigua, the smallest government ever to lodge a WTO complaint, scored an initial victory against U.S. online gambling restrictions when the WTO found in April 2005 that the U.S. had pledged to open the industry to competition 10 years earlier.[8] U.S. representatives countered that the restrictions, which date to 1961, were needed to protect public morals. The WTO agreed, but only up to a point: U.S. law allows remote betting on horse races within the 50 states, so the government can't block foreign bookmakers from also taking those bets.[4] The Republican-controlled Congress passed legislation last September that curbs financial payments from banks to offshore Internet casinos that are illegal under U.S. law. The law was aimed at shutting down the payment system for Internet gambling and caused betting sites such as SportingBet Plc to cease U.S. operations or sell them for nominal amounts.[8] "The process we are starting today would allow us to clarify our schedule and make clear that we did not intend and do not intend to have gambling included in our services agreement." U.S. officials said Article 21 of the GATS agreement allows a member to file clarifications to their original schedule of commitments, a procedure that has been used only once.[7] When the schedules were drawn up over ten years ago, there was extensive debate, proposal and counterproposal from all WTO members in determining what commitments would be made. More than a dozen countries were able to expressly exclude gambling from their commitments, and many dozens more excluded the commitment in other ways. For the United States to say this was a mistake is just not true."[5] Please write to your congressman and ask him/her to honor our commitments to the WTO. Let's ask that we at least negotiate a reasonable arrangement with Antigua that protects states' rights while opening access to states that have legalized gambling.[9] The Caribbean island nation contended that restrictions on remote gambling violated the United States' commitment to an open market for services.[4] The commitment to opening up recreational services "doesn't explicitly include gambling nor does it necessary exclude it," Veroneau said. "It didn't occur to us that this could include gambling until Antigua brought this case in 2003." "Clearly that was an oversight in the drafting," he said.[7]  I did want to ensure that our guys wouldn't oppose the Frank bill on some false hope that somehow Antigua could force the U.S. to allow unfettered online gambling in states like Utah and Hawaii. As much as I would like that, for better or for worse it really is up to the citizens of those states, I think. [9] Income for the 32 registered online casinos in Antigua and Barbuda has fallen to $130 million a year from $1 billion in 2000, when earlier U.S. restrictions on online gaming were imposed, the Antiguan government says.[8] Antigua and Barbuda, a Caribbean nation of 80,000 people, successfully argued against congressional bans on U.S. residents taking part in the estimated $12 billion global business.[8] The Caribbean island nation of Antigua and Barbuda says it has been unfairly targeted by the ban, which affects the hundreds of citizens in the country who work in the gambling industry.[3] At the time the GATS schedules were being drafted, the "remote" gambling industry was a thriving business in America, and had been in existence for more than 100 years! In the early 1990s there were state-owned and operated betting enterprise that had been openly offering telephone wagering to residents of New York and certain other states for years. [9] The USTR's claim that it mistakenly committed to gambling in the early 1990s is simply untrue. Of the 150 countries who participate in the GATS, more 100 excluded gambling in their schedules. Most WTO members excluded gambling by simply not including the applicable sector, Sector 10, in their GATS schedules.[9] The modification will clarify that gambling services are not included, eliminating the WTO's jurisdiction over the issue.[4] The ban on Internet gambling enacted last fall would be overturned under legislation proposed last month by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., but the bill faces long odds in Congress. [2] As the off-track-betting issue illustrates, Congress loses interest in protecting people from the lure of online gambling when thoroughbreds and trotters are involved.[4] The most closely scrutinized and stable gambling businesses casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City stayed out of online wagering, conceding the field to unregulated and, occasionally, fly-by-night operators.[4] A federal law passed last year to prohibit credit card companies from processing bets has spawned a host of workarounds, including online wallets and repurposed prepaid phone cards. [4] Washington can maintain the anti-gambling law if it is applied equally to remote betting on horse racing, the global trade mediator ruled.[3] Interstate restrictions on games of chance evaporate for state lotteries a form of gambling that the government enthusiastically promotes. [4] REFERENCES 1. Channel 4 - News - US to reaffirm online gambling ban 2. U.S. reaffirms ban on online gambling 3. Poker News - U.S. to clarify gambling ban with WTO - PokerListings.com 4. Gambling hypocrisy - Los Angeles Times 5. Caribbean Net News: Antigua-Barbuda reacts to US action in gambling dispute 6. U.S. Clarifies Ongline Gambling Ban | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle 7. Untitled 8. Caribbean Net News: US plans to remove web gaming from WTO commitments 9. Sports Betting at Eye On Gambling - Discuss Online Sportsbooks; Handicapping; and Free Picks |
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