WTO Rules Against US Over Foreign Online Casino Companies Discrimination

12 Apr 2007

The US has received this week yet another blow, when the WTO (World Trade Organization) ruled against them again – and in favor of Antigua and Barbuda - claiming that the American government is discriminatory when it comes to online gambling and online casino sites. As it could be expected, the ruling immediately caused significant jumps in online casino companies’ shares trading on the London Exchange Market, some of them even jumping as much as 16%.

As a reminder, in April 2005 Antigua and Barbuda, a tiny Caribbean nation with a population of 80,000 and the smallest government ever to lodge a WTO complaint, scored an initial victory against US online casino restrictions when the WTO found that the US had pledged to open the industry to competition 10 years earlier. The US immediately appealed, of course, but this latest ruling rejected that appeal too. “This ruling gives hope not only to us, but to the entire online casino industry, who’s currently being attacked by the US Department of Justice” said Dr. Errol Cort, the Antiguan Finance Minister. John Ashe, the Caribbean island nation's ambassador to the WTO in Geneva added: “This is a huge success for Antigua, as they have obtained a clear win over the United States on this issue”.

“We will continue with our ban on online gambling financial transactions, but we will make sure not to discriminate foreign online casino companies” said Gretchen Hamel, A spokesperson for the U.S. Trade Representatives Office. Everyone in the online casino industry knows that this isn’t the final episode of this “fight”, but right now it seems as the US is definitely losing.

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