Antigua antagonised again by US

Antigua has hit out at suggestions by the US that the WTO ruled in its favour yesterday, with its lead counsel calling the US claims ?wishful thinking?.

Members of the US Trade Representatives said the WTO effectively ruled in favour of its restrictions on internet gambling and it merely needed to tweak its legislation to comply with WTO rules.

But Mark Mendel, lead legal counsel for Antigua, said there were no grounds for the claim.

?The ruling notes that, in effect, the US laws discriminate against foreign commerce,? Mendel said.

?Unless the US wishes to repeal all of its laws that currently permit any form of domestic remote gambling and adopt laws to affirmatively prohibit it in all forms country-wide, then they will have to provide Antiguan online gaming companies fair access to the US market.?

The final WTO ruling can not be contested, but the US is expected to pursue other routes of preventing remedial action.

However, Antigua said they will use the WTO ruling to open up negotiations both with the US and with media and banking organisations.

Mendel said he is prepared to take banks and media firms to court if necessary to pursue the claim.

?We expect that major internet search engines, including Google and Yahoo!, financial institutions and credit card service providers will be required to accept advertising from Antiguan internet gaming sites,? Mendel said.

News Added: 09 April, 2005

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