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Still No WTO Reaction to U.S. Decision to Ignore Sanctions

The United States has announced that it will not alter the current U.S. legislation known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which effectively forces foreign online casino companies out of U.S. market. Though the World Trade Organisation has ruled that the U.S. is in violation of internationally agreed upon policies, the U.S. disagrees and will not be allowing online casinos back into the U.S. any time soon according to top government officials. Now though begins the debate about compensation for those online casino companies affected by the U.S. ruling.

According to Veroneau, the Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. is not in violation of any agreed upon commitments. But despite the disagreement over who is in the wrong, the WTO now has three months to make decisions regarding compensation for the online casinos, and for the countries seeking damages.

The debate now though centers on the term “recreational services” and how that term applies to online casino gambling. If the WTO continues to seek compensation for damages from the U.S., the Veroneau explains that the U.S. plans to modify its services commitments and to retrospectively address the online casinos gambling issues. This option is rarely used by countries in the WTO, yet the U.S. is preparing to exercise its right.

Others though are outraged that the U.S. is choosing to opt-out of the online casinos commitment now—other countries opted out when the commitment was drafted, yet the U.S. did not make that choice at that time. But no matter which way the opinion goes, it looks like the U.S. has some weighty decisions to make concerning online casinos—and either way its probably going cost the government some hefty fees to fix this problem. The only two options are: (1) alter the previous agreement and compensate the online casino companies affected by the legislation, or (2) deal with the trade sanctions imposed by the WTO since the U.S. did not comply with sanctions. Either way, the choices could be better.