If USA Shuns WTO, What Can Antigua Do?

Published: Monday, October 23, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

IF THE USA SHUNS WTO, WHAT CAN ANTIGUA DO?

Intellectual property could be a retaliatory vehicle, says magazine


The online magazine Techdirt examined the long-running World Trade Organisation dispute between Antigua and the United States over online gambling at the weekend, investigating the retaliatory options open to the islanders should the Americans continue to disrespect the WTO ruling that it is out of line in banning only selected forms of online gambling.

The editorial highlights the principle that the USA can't ban foreign goods or a service that's legally sold domestically, and since the bill carves out a clear exception for things like state lotteries and horse betting, that's a serious problem. It goes on to recap on Antigua's successful actions and reactions to USA counter-arguments and the support it has received in its efforts before moving on to look at possible measures that Antigua might take in exacting penalties against the USA

"Tariffs and other restrictions wouldn't work, because the US would hardly notice, and they'd just damage Antiguans anyway," the article opines. "But the tiny country does have one way to make the US take notice. As a retaliatory measure under the WTO, it could refuse to recognize US intellectual property. It could make itself a haven for pirated software and drugs. If the US thought that Allofmp3.com was a thorn in its side, imagine an Antiguan-based allofsoftware.com. It would create quite a stir, and upset many industries at the US government. It all doesn't seem quite worth it, as Radley Balko [of the libertarian Cato Institute] "...just because (Congressman) Bob Goodlatte thinks card playin' is fer' the devil."