In an unusual ruling at the WTO, the Caribbean nation of Antigua on Friday won the right to violate copyright protections on goods like films and music from the US, an award worth up to US$21 million, as part of a dispute between the two countries over online gambling.
The award follows a WTO ruling that Washington had wrongly blocked online gaming operators on the island from the US market at the same time it allowed online wagering on horse racing.
Antigua and Barbuda had claimed damages of US$3.44 billion a year. That makes the relatively small amount awarded on Friday something of a setback for Antigua, which had been struggling to preserve its gambling industry. The US claimed that its behavior had caused US$500,000 damage to the Antiguan economy.
Yet the ruling is significant in that it grants a rare form of compensation: the right of one country, in this case Antigua, to violate intellectual property laws of another, the US, by allowing it to distribute copies of US music, movie and software products.
"That has only been done once before and is, I believe, a very potent weapon," said Mark Mendel, a lawyer representing Antigua, after the ruling. "I hope that the United States government will now see the wisdom in reaching some accommodation with Antigua over this dispute."
Though Antigua is best known for its beaches and tourist attractions, online casinos based there are vital to its economy, serving as its second-largest employer.
By pressing its claim, trade lawyers said, Antigua could set a precedent for other countries to sue the US for unfair trade practices, potentially opening the door to electronic piracy and other dubious practices around the world.
Still, implementation will prove difficult, the lawyers say.
"Even if Antigua goes ahead with an act of piracy or the refusal to allow the registration of a trademark, the question still remains of how much that act is worth," said Brendan McGivern, a trade lawyer with White & Case in Geneva. "The Antiguans could say that's worth US$50,000, and then the US might say that's worth US$5 million -- and I can tell you that the US is going to dog them on every step of the way."
The US has aggressively fought Antigua's claims.
A WTO panel first ruled against the US in 2004, and its appellate body upheld that decision a year later. In April 2005, the trade body gave the US a 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.
From the start, the US has asserted that it never intended to allow free, cross-border gambling or betting. Those activities are restricted in the US, though some form of gambling is legal in 48 of 50 states.
In May, the US announced that it was rewriting its trade rules to remove gambling services from the jurisdiction of the WTO.
Washington has already agreed on deals with the EU, Canada and Japan to change the treaty but it has yet to reach agreements with several other nations, including Antigua.
On Friday, the US trade representative issued a stern warning to Antigua to avoid acts of piracy, counterfeiting or violations of intellectual property while negotiations are under way.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors