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U.S. Inconsistencies

Between ambiguous online casino bans and inconsistent policies regarding internet betting, the U.S. has been on a collision course with other countries for years. Unfortunately for the small island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, the U.S. failed to really take the nation’s World Trade Organisation case seriously until major U.S. trading partners took up the cause as well with recent compensation claims. The major conflict began just last year with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and has escalated to a massive international case handled through the WTO – the largest the WTO has ever handled.

As the rumors regarding more than $100 billion in compensation claims continue, many in the U.S. are beginning to look at the inconsistent policies that are causing most of the international concern. The UIGEA does not simply ban all online casino gambling activities in the United States, but rather prohibits transactions with offshore gambling companies. This then creates trade issues because the U.S. is still allowing online casino gambling at the state level in terms of fantasy sports and internet betting. Antigua specifically calls into questions that legitimacy of the ban considering it only targets offshore companies and thus violates a decade old international trade agreement.

The WTO dispute continues and a conference was recently held in Brussels to work toward a conclusion. The former director of policy planning for the US trade Representative, Naotaka Matsukata, was present and commented on the precarious online casino gambling situation. “The US$3.4 billion claim by Antigua and the much larger claim of over US$100 billion by the seven other economies seeking compensation are some of the largest penalties in the history of the WTO. This is by far the most significant WTO case ever and its implications for both the US and the EU are enormous. Given the size of the US gaming market, both the potential benefit for European industry and the corresponding potential damage to US companies is unprecedented.”

The crux of the issue comes to the fact that the U.S. allows domestic online casino betting companies but specifically and deliberately excludes offshore internet gambling companies.