Advanced Forum Search -- Advanced Casino Search

Online betting is a moral choice
Message was posted: 06:32 Jul 1st, 2006

User: wonderdog Rank: Casino Gold: 2283CG Contributor rating: 4720 Status: Offline

Gambling news from http://www.theinquirer.net/ AN ACTION taken by the World Trade Organisation withthe Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda pitted against the mighty US, seems to have resulted in a victory for both sides. Briefs for Antigua and Barbuda went to the WTO to attempt to get US online gaming rules overturned. The US government briefs were trying to assert a nation’s right to make "moral laws" even if these breached international trading laws. The briefs, they briefed, and the WTO, it considered, and came up with a ruling that seems to have been declared a victory for both sides. On one hand it accepted that the US’s cross-border gaming bans were valid. It accepted that Washington federal laws could "protect public morals or maintain public order". However, it added that US had not been able to show that it treated international suppliers of gambling in the same way that it did local ones. The WTO said that some restrictions imposed under US federal laws were inconsistent with the GATS services agreement. Antigua is a centre for offshore internet gaming operations, attracting large numbers of US residents to its casino-style games and betting services. It claimed that US prohibitions were harming its online gaming business. Briefs for the tiny country said that the ruling would allow them to advertise online gaming products on US internet sites or media without the threat of legal action by authorities. It also means that major internet search engines and credit card companies will have to accept advertising from Antiguan internet gaming sites as they do currently with the US betting industry. However, the US International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities welcomed the ruling, as the outfit believes that gambling should be left to the jurisdictional integrity of each country. "Remote betting operators should once and for all be stopped offering bets to people living in countries where this is forbidden by law. The WTO ruling is a welcome confirmation of this principle," a spokesman told the INQ. µ