Antigua and Barbuda has filed a
complaint against the US at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in order to protect
its Internet gambling industry. They say laws blocking US residents from
using online casinos breach global fair trade rules and threaten a valuable part
of its economy. The move comes after the US House of Representatives voted
to ban credit-card payments to internet casinos, most of which are based overseas.
The US government has defended the need for controls on Internet gambling
to protect children and prevent financial crimes such as money laundering.
But
Antigua's government argues that its online casinos are some of the best regulated
in the world. As a result of the US laws, winnings are not being paid as
all the gaming industry's financial transactions are being blocked, Antigua's
High Commissioner in London Sir Ronald Sanders told the BBC. One person has
already been jailed in the US for running an online casino in Antigua, he said.
Altogether
about 3,000 people in the country's two islands earn a living from the gaming
industry but some gaming companies have already had to close.
"These
are well paying jobs for very talented young people so it's a great difficulty
as to what we find for them to do," said Sir Ronald.
Antigua's
financial regulators classify online casinos in the same bracket as banks and
apply stricter rules than the US, he said. "Because we classify them
as financial institutions they are subject to intense regulation", including
laws on fraud, money laundering and terrorist finance, said Sir Ronald. "We
do have very talented, very literate, very well qualified population who have
mastered the Internet technology. They have a right to compete in the world if
they wish to," said Sir Ronald. He also pointed to widespread international
drug trafficking elsewhere in the Caribbean, saying online gaming had provided
an alternative route to affluence for residents of the two islands of Antigua
and Barbuda. Antigua's online gaming industry generated $37.5m in taxes in
2000.
