The Online Poker Shutdown Could Violate International Law
TOPS.org finds that the government of Antigua has been fighting the United States for several years on the topic of online poker and so far Antigua is clearly winning in the eyes of the WTO.
TOPS.org has found additional documents to support Antigua's claim that the online poker shutdown of Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker, and UB may in fact have been an illegal action by the United States Government. It appears that this same issue has been argued in front of the World Trade Organization twice in the past and the US came up losers both times. Below is a summary from March of 2007 that was written by Mendel Blumenfeld LLP to describe the WTO's findings-
"The Report has three major implications:
• It concludes that the United States is out of compliance with an adverse WTO decision
• As a result, Antigua will be free to impose trade sanctions against the United States, if Antigua affirmatively decides to do so, directed at "encouraging" the United States to meet its international trade obligations to Antigua
• It will make it virtually impossible for the United States to continue to maintain the pretense that it somehow "won" the dispute or that the WTO had ruled that the United States was entitled to prohibit the provision of Internet gambling services from Antigua."
The report can be found here.
Steven Hastings, a spokesman for TOPS.org, had this to say on the matter, "If you read the entire finding by the WTO involving the Antigua issue, the actions taken by the United States last week are clearly in violation of international law. This case was already argued and decided by the WTO before the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act was even put into effect; that's why Antigua was awarded up to $21 million annually for their losses in 2007."
It is unclear if Ultimate Bet (also known as UB) and Absolute Poker, owned by the Cereus Poker Network, plan to accept the current offer by the United States to settle this matter without further intervention. Under the agreement, each of the seized websites would be returned back to Cereus as long as they agreed to refund all outstanding deposits from US players and to never accept any US players in the future for real money gaming.
"This is an interesting case because it appears that the United States has flat out refused to comply with the World Trade Organization when it comes to Antigua and online gambling," Hastings said on Sunday. "Under the current laws of the UIGEA, Antigua is free to buy anything they want inside the United States and they can hold as many US bank accounts as they want...as long as it has nothing to do with online gambling."
With online poker sites like Sportsbook Poker and Players Only picking up the majority of the US players while the negotiations continue between the United States and the Cereus Poker Network, it would appear that the value of an additional WTO lawsuit would be increasing with each hour that passes. Even if Cereus does accept the current offer from the US Attorney's Office and concedes the American market, it would not stop the government of Antigua from seeking permanent damages.
"That's like passing a law that says a person can buy hot dogs from any business in the world," said Hastings, "but you have to buy the buns, chili, mustard, and relish from the United States alone. That's the reason we have a World Trade Organization in the first place; to block unfair practices like that."
For more information visit: http://www.tops-poker.org/
PR courtesy of Online PR Media: http://bit.ly/eqHrn7
TOPS.org has found additional documents to support Antigua's claim that the online poker shutdown of Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker, and UB may in fact have been an illegal action by the United States Government. It appears that this same issue has been argued in front of the World Trade Organization twice in the past and the US came up losers both times. Below is a summary from March of 2007 that was written by Mendel Blumenfeld LLP to describe the WTO's findings-
"The Report has three major implications:
• It concludes that the United States is out of compliance with an adverse WTO decision
• As a result, Antigua will be free to impose trade sanctions against the United States, if Antigua affirmatively decides to do so, directed at "encouraging" the United States to meet its international trade obligations to Antigua
• It will make it virtually impossible for the United States to continue to maintain the pretense that it somehow "won" the dispute or that the WTO had ruled that the United States was entitled to prohibit the provision of Internet gambling services from Antigua."
The report can be found here.
Steven Hastings, a spokesman for TOPS.org, had this to say on the matter, "If you read the entire finding by the WTO involving the Antigua issue, the actions taken by the United States last week are clearly in violation of international law. This case was already argued and decided by the WTO before the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act was even put into effect; that's why Antigua was awarded up to $21 million annually for their losses in 2007."
It is unclear if Ultimate Bet (also known as UB) and Absolute Poker, owned by the Cereus Poker Network, plan to accept the current offer by the United States to settle this matter without further intervention. Under the agreement, each of the seized websites would be returned back to Cereus as long as they agreed to refund all outstanding deposits from US players and to never accept any US players in the future for real money gaming.
"This is an interesting case because it appears that the United States has flat out refused to comply with the World Trade Organization when it comes to Antigua and online gambling," Hastings said on Sunday. "Under the current laws of the UIGEA, Antigua is free to buy anything they want inside the United States and they can hold as many US bank accounts as they want...as long as it has nothing to do with online gambling."
With online poker sites like Sportsbook Poker and Players Only picking up the majority of the US players while the negotiations continue between the United States and the Cereus Poker Network, it would appear that the value of an additional WTO lawsuit would be increasing with each hour that passes. Even if Cereus does accept the current offer from the US Attorney's Office and concedes the American market, it would not stop the government of Antigua from seeking permanent damages.
"That's like passing a law that says a person can buy hot dogs from any business in the world," said Hastings, "but you have to buy the buns, chili, mustard, and relish from the United States alone. That's the reason we have a World Trade Organization in the first place; to block unfair practices like that."
For more information visit: http://www.tops-poker.org/
PR courtesy of Online PR Media: http://bit.ly/eqHrn7
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