The WTO, in its first decision on an Internet-related dispute, has ignited a political, cultural and legal tinderbox by ruling that the US policy prohibiting online gambling violates its obligations under international trade law.
The ruling, issued by a WTO panel on Wednesday, is being hailed by operators of online casinos based overseas as a major victory that could force America to liberalize laws outlawing their business.
But the George W. Bush administration vowed to appeal the decision, and several members of Congress said they would rather have an international trade war or withdraw from future rounds of the WTO than have American social policy dictated from abroad.
"It's appalling," said Republican Representative Bob Goodlatte. "It cannot be allowed to stand that another nation can impose its values on the US and make it a trade issue."
The decision stems from a case brought to the WTO in June last year by the tiny island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, which licenses 19 companies that offer sports betting and casino games like blackjack over the Internet.
Antigua and Barbuda argued that US trade policy does not prohibit cross-border gambling operations, and that the US would be hypocritical to do otherwise because it wants to allow American casino operations to operate land-based and Internet-based subsidiaries overseas.
It is not clear precisely why the WTO ruled in favor of Antigua and Barbuda, since the specifics of its decision remain confidential. The ruling covers only online casinos based on the islands, near Puerto Rico, but other nations could seek similar rulings, legal experts said.
Ronald Sanders, the islands' chief foreign affairs representative, said he believes it is clear from the decision that the US must liberalize its online gambling regulations or risk being hypocritical about its stance on free trade.
"The US says it wants open competition," he said. "But it only wants free trade when it suits the US."
Millions of Americans gamble over the Internet, using credit cards or online payment services to wager on sports contests or at games like poker, blackjack and roulette.
Under federal law, it is illegal to offer sports bets over the Internet or to operate other gambling operations not otherwise allowed by individual states. State laws vary widely, with some allowing specific forms of gambling within their borders. Some states criminalize the placing of a bet, but others, like New York, do not make it a crime to place a bet on the Internet.
Online casinos are typically based in Costa Rica or the Caribbean, but also in Britain. Their business continues to grow, but not nearly as fast as industry experts once projected; the slower growth has come in part because many banks do not allow their credit cards to be used to place bets.
Also, the Justice Department has begun to crack down on American broadcasters and publishers that advertise on behalf of Internet casinos. The crackdown, based on an untested legal theory that American companies are aiding and abetting an illegal enterprise, has limited the ability of online casinos to reach Americans.
Sebastian Sinclair, a research analyst who studies the Internet gambling industry, said he doubted the WTO decision would affect America's internal policies and instead could actually strengthen the resolve of policy-makers who want to see the activity prohibited. At the same time, he said the decision shows the gulf in policy on the issue between America and much of the world.
"We're going down one path, and the rest of the world is going down a completely different path," said Sinclair, an analyst with Christiansen Capital Advisors.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
RSS