Gambling Law Might Face Pressure From Global Trade | IXGAMES

The new law on online gaming in the US can possibly undergo some pressure coming from the renowned World Trade Organization (WTO) over global trade protectionism with regard to the said sector.  The Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act, which was passed by the Congress last week has exemptions that targets the issue that the global trade member nation discriminates other foreign online gambling companies. The said law does not include interstate Internet bets on horse race industry and online gambling that occurs inside the US.  The said law was created to ban other countries from penetrating the gaming industry of US. This is based on the claims of the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda regarding the said country’s unfair treatment with foreign game companies that are also member of the global trade group. The said island that provides licenses for off the shore online gambling services that make dollars from US, have recently emerged victorious in the ruling a year ago stating that American laws on Internet betting violated the global trade policies, and that such laws were protectionist. The victory by Antigua is considered as the benchmark for other unions like the European Union (EU) to make such actions.  The EU stated that it will be very interesting if ever the American legislation will confirm the current law that is already deemed as discriminatory to other members of the global trade body. Jonathan Winer, an attorney in Washington that has been watching the actions of the WTO, said that the law can possibly aggravate the dillema that US have with the said global trade body.  He also added that the said law can really augment concerns from the WTO because of the simple fact that it removes international competition for events that are still legal in the US like taking bets online on horse racing, and casino gambling.  He also emphasized that the mentioned activities have met federal rules.  Winer also said that US can always exclaim “so what?” whenever it loses case from Antigua.  However, the case will be way different and possibly more complicated  if a nation that brought the case up has an important economic and political relationship with the US. Ken Defraich, a former New York Internet Law Division head said that a component of the dillema is the lack of substantial evidence over the negative impact of the said laws.  And this scenario will give a wide pool of pieces of evidence that are linked to considerable danger.  However, the lawyers of Barbuda and Antigua stated that the current bill has made it clear that US has breached the global trade policies. Mark Mendel, the US Trade representative to the Geneva-based global trade body, said that they are reviewing the said legislation, however, the new law will not modify the American laws that are being questioned by the case filed by Barbuda and Antigua.  The US have a time frame until April this current year to modify its laws in accordance to the policies and rules set by the prestigious global trade body.  The WTO has also setup a governing panel that will assess if the country in question have been checking on its gambling laws.