US Delaying WTO Online Gambling Settlement

Negotiations continue on concessions after the US lost its WTO case on online gambling. The settlement amount discussed was $100 billion, which may have been exaggerated. Even so, its shocking how little press this case has received. So far most of the coverage has been from online gambling sites and an editorial in Bloomberg

The United States has been forced to negotiate the compensation package because of a 2003 case filed by the Caribbean nation Antigua and Barbuda, which challenged U.S. Internet gambling restrictions at the World Trade Organization.

A WTO panel ruled two years later that a U.S. law allowing domestic companies to provide online horse race gambling services discriminated against foreign providers.

US Internet Gaming - “The Most Significant WTO Case Ever”

Essentially the US is going to pander to the special interests rather than follow the rules it helped put in place at the WTO. After all, what do the politicians care for fines? It’s not coming out of their paychecks. Too bad the WTO can’t force performance of the rules. More on the US internet gaming dispute:

Withdrawing from a binding treaty commitment could undermine U.S. negotiating credibility and risks discrediting the WTO as an effective rules-based body. Essentially, the U.S. is disregarding the rules it helped put in place with the creation of the WTO.

Barney Frank’s bill could be a solution:

“Rather than face paying billions in trade compensation, which would have a significant adverse impact on the American economy, the U.S. should embrace the legislative solution presented by the Frank bill, which brings the U.S. into compliance by regulating Internet gambling and creating a level playing field among domestic and foreign Internet gambling operators,” said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.