The licencing and operation of online casino games have been an enormously lucrative business for governments, software companies and iGaming operators all over the globe. That’s no longer the case in Antigua and Barbuda, who filed litigation with the World Trade Organization against the US government 13 years ago, and has just set a deadline of January 1, 2017 for the US to comply with WTO’s decade-old compensation ruling.
US Cracks Down on Online Casino Games
It all started back in 1998, when the US targeted internet gambling operators who accepted American players, declaring it a violation of the 1968 Wire Act. A substantial number of the operators that were effected were headquartered and licenced in Antigua.
The island nation estimated that the operation of online casino games accounted for 5% of their total employment, and 2% of GPD. That might not seem like a lot since Antigua has a population of less than 100,000, but if those same percentages were tallied for the US, it would represent 7.5 million workers and $360 billion in losses. Suffice to say, it was a staggering blow to Antigua’s economy.
Antigua and Barbuda Fight Back
Antigua and Barbuda filed a complaint with the WTO in 2003, claiming the US had violated the commitments in its General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS), which the two countries signed back in 1994. The US waved off the complaints, saying they never intended for online gambling to be included as “recreation services” in the trade agreement’s.
In 2004, the WTO sided with Antigua, ruling that ‘intentions’ have little to do with contractual obligations. The US filed an appeal in 2005 on moral grounds, stating online casino games were harmful to society. The appellate rejected that argument, upholding the original ruling.
The US agreed to comply, but said it would need a reasonable amount of time to adjust its laws accordingly. Arbitrators gave them until April 3, 2006. The US failed to meet the deadline. Instead, they passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in October of that year, and in May 2007, moved to amend its GATS commitments to exclude internet gambling from “recreational services”.
Decade of Failed Negations Continue
The dispute continued for years, with all attempts at negotiations failing. Antigua requested $3.4 billion, which the US found preposterous, offering an equally absurd $500,000 instead. Arbitrators suggested a US$21 million annual payment to Antigua, but that never happened either.
Now, nearly 10 years after the WTO issued a deadline for the US to compensate Antigua and Barbuda for its losses, the island nation has set a deadline of January 1, 2017 for the US to comply with the decade-old ruling. Just what Antigua intends to do come that date, should the US fail to comply, is unknown.
The nation’s US ambassador, Sir Ronald Sanders, is optimistic that agreeable terms will be reached within that time frame. Some reports indicate Antigua requested a single payment of US$200 million, and that they may even be satisfied with less.
Being such a small Caribbean nation, however, it’s clear that the US government has no respect for Antigua’s diminutive geopolitical stature. Had such an online casino games dispute come from a larger region with more political clout, the European Union for instance, a resolution would surely have been reached much sooner.
