AP News, May 4th, 2007
The United States will use a World Trade Organization procedure to clarify its ban on online gambling, a U.S. trade representative said Friday.
In March, a WTO panel opened the door to possible commercial sanctions against the United States when it ruled that the U.S. law as written unfairly targets offshore casinos.
The Geneva-based global trade referee said Washington can maintain restrictions on online gambling, so long as its laws are equally applied to U.S. operators offering remote betting on horse racing.
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John K. Veroneau said Friday that "U.S. federal and state laws have banned interstate gambling for decades, therefore it would be nonsensical for the U.S. to make a comittment to open up interstate gambling for foreign providers when it was unlawful for U.S. providers."
The measure signed into law by President Bush in October prohibits U.S. banks and credit card companies from processing payments to online gambling businesses outside the United States, taking Internet gambling businesses by surprise. It prompted companies such as Sportingbet PLC and Leisure & Gaming PLC to sell their U.S. operations, and the industry lost an estimated 80 percent of its business as a result.
The ban on Internet gambling enacted last fall would be overturned under legislation proposed last month by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., but the bill faces long odds in Congress.
In March, the WTO ruled the United States ban on offshore Internet gambling payments is illegal and sided with the twin Caribbean island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, which said U.S. ban was dicriminatory.
The Geneva-based WTO said the United States can maintain restrictions on online gambling as long as its applies them equally to American operators providing remote betting on horse racing.
