US Paying Up For Online Gambling Stance

27 Mar, 2008 Poker Talk

The end of March will bring the deadline for an agreement proposal from the United States in reference to the sanctions imposed by the WTO against them, in regards to the damages owed to Antigua. Rather than comply with certain fair trade agreements regarding gambling, the US chose to change its agreement with the WTO and pay restitution to any country that regulates online gambling companies.

This agreement follows on the heels of a mid-month settlement between the US and Costa Rica. In that package, Costa Rica received additional access to US resources regarding things like technical testing, research, development, and storage. This offer was placed on the table after a request for arbitration was filed to the WTO by Costa Rica.

A similar arbitration request was filed by Antigua, and they were awarded $21 million dollars from the United States. As arbitration is not binding, the US requested the chance to submit a different proposal for compensation. As Antigua offered no suggestions as to what would benefit them, one can only speculate about what this offer may include.

Late last year, there seemed to be secret agreements between the US and several other counties, which shifted their support away from Antigua. The US government has failed to release any information about these agreements, as they call it a matter of national security. There are still other governments that could be entitled to compensation in the future, as they have been shut out of the US gambling market by the failure to comply with WTO standards.