Net betting ban violates WTO ruling

Net betting ban violates WTO ruling, lawyer says

Measure puts U.S. on 'collision course,' Antigua attorney says

By TONY BATT | RJ
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- An Internet gambling ban approved by Congress violates a ruling last year by the World Trade Organization and could interfere with U.S. trade policy, a lawyer who represents the online wagering country of Antigua said.

"What Congress is really doing is putting the U.S. on a clear collision course with free trade and the WTO," said Mark Mendel, an attorney in El Paso, Texas.

Mendel represented Antigua in a dispute with the United States about whether the Caribbean island could legally accept Internet gambling wagers from customers in the United States.

In April 2005, a WTO court in Switzerland ruled the United States could ban Internet gambling within its borders. But the court also decided U.S. law was inconsistent because it allowed Internet operations for horse racing and state lotteries.

Both the U.S. Trade Representative's office and Antigua declared victory after the WTO decision, but it's still unclear how the ruling affects Internet gambling, which has become a $12 billion industry with more than 2,300 Web sites.

Mendel said the ban Congress approved would allow Nevada and other states to conduct Internet gambling within their own borders.

"That flies in the face of the WTO ruling," Mendel said.

Gretchen Hamel, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative, said her agency is still reviewing the ban that passed Congress on Saturday. She declined to comment further.

The ban, which was attached as a rider to a port security bill, was submitted to President Bush Wednesday. He is expected to sign it within the next two weeks.

Mendel said the WTO may decide by January or February that the Internet gambling ban means the United States is not in compliance with its international trade agreements.

"I have always believed the United States has too much at stake in the WTO to let it all blow up because of this one case. I think ultimately, they will have to work something out with us," Mendel said.

Mendel said he and several high-level government officials from Antigua were in Washington last week to lobby against efforts by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to pass the Internet gambling ban.

"We talked to members who had a pretty good record on free trade, and most of them didn't understand the implications of this Internet gambling ban," Mendel said.

The group did not visit any lawmakers from Nevada, he said.

Although many Internet gambling companies are panicking in the wake of the ban, Mendel predicted the prohibition will have little effect.

"We have (Internet gambling) service providers in Antigua who have been consumer-complaint free for 10 years now," Mendel said. "Gamblers think those businesses offer a better deal than Las Vegas or a corner bookie."

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The only problem here is that the US government doesn't care if it violates WTO rulings. They are constantly violating the rules, simply because they are the biggest kid on the block they don't care what others think because there is nothing other countries can do when the US violates the rules. Here are just a few examples of WTO violations:
The Helms-Burton laws which state if a foreign company does business with Cuba you can't do business with US companies.
The Byrd Amendment which gives tariffs paid by foreign companies to its US competitors.
The North American Free Trade Agreement. The US has charged $5 billion in illegal tariffs to Canadian soft wood lumber companies and are still charging the tariffs even after the Canadian companies won 11 court rulings in their favour.

The problem here is the democratic system here in the US has been perverted and taken over by corporations which pass laws to benefit themselves and not for the benefit of all the players involved. Not only do we have an industrial-military complex but there is also an industrial-political complex. This is a real danger for the health of the nation.

Some other things to consider:

How stupid and ignorant are these politicians?

We are in a time where the economy hasn't exactly been easy to deal with, life it getting tougher for the middle class, etc and instead of embracing a $12 BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY they BAN it. WTF?

You have to realize this goes further than just not being able to play poker online and stuff like that:

TV poker will probably die down 'cuz the sites that pay the advertising bills have no stake over here anymore.

Payment processors such as firepay or neteller are going to go downhill.. also these companies I am pretty sure are publicly traded and the stocks related to this are going to plummet, if they haven't already.

The WSOP will dwindle down to a smaller size as there will no longer be all the satelites there were this year.

Hackers/Phishers have probably already started working to try and get some piece of the pie as US citizens are trying to cash out their gaming accts before they become "felons."

There's quite a few magazines that are going to go downhill from this.

I have presonally ALWAYS claimed my online gambling winings on my tax forms.. so now the IRS gets less $$.

I also just read that Harrah's and some other larger casino chains are already preparing for an impact as a lot of the players who now play at their casinos started out online.

So this ignorant Republican gets his way, and screws over how many people?

Not to mention just ANOTHER "freedom" taken away by the George W Bush government.

That's just what I've thought of in the past two minutes.. I am sure I could come up with more but I'm too pissy about the subject to really post about it without sounding bitter.

I've watched my rights get stripped away since 9.11.01.. I guess this shouldn't surprise me.

I guess I should start stocking liquor, 'cuz I have a feeling I won't be able to buy it a year from now.