The Bitter and the Sweet
2007-12-21 19:01:43
By:
Gene Bromberg
I'm from Pittsburgh, and yesterday was one of those good news/bad news nights for my sports teams. The Steelers won...but Willie Parker broke his leg. Pitt beat Duke in basketball...but senior guard Mike Cook blew out his knee. It's nice to win, but when the results are marred by serious, long-term complications it's hard to really enjoy it.
That's rather how I felt today when the
World Trade Organization handed down its ruling in the case Antigua filed against the United States. The good news is that the WTO ruled in Antigua's favor, the first time that it's ever ruled against the United States. The bad news is that the WTO awarded Antigua a puny annual $21 million compensation claim. Antigua was looking for $3.4 billion in damages; the United States countered with $500,000, and the amount that was actually granted in damages will obviously not alter the U.S. government's attitude toward
online gaming in any way. The WTO's decision allows Antigua to violate U.S. intellectual property laws up to that $21 million figure, and Antigua's lead attorney Mark Mendel said that "...$21 million a year in intellectual property rights suspension going forward indefinitely is not such a bad asset to have."
The ruling aside, this has to count as a defeat for Antigua, and one wonders how much damage the WTO's decision will do to its reputation, especially among smaller nations. If a country like Antigua can bring a dispute before the WTO, argue it's case over the course of years, win at every step along the way, have the final decision go it's way, and yet still end up with a result that in every way benefits the larger, offending nation...what's the point of bringing a case before the WTO? What's the point of belonging in the first place? Are trade agreements worth the paper they're written on?
So, go Antigua. I suppose $21 million a year is nothing to sneeze at, but it hardly suffices under the circumstances. Not that I think the U.S. would've complied had the WTO handed down a really punitive ruling, but it would've put the ball in the United State's court and forced them to show that they had no intention of honoring their obligations.
Funny, I'm an American, yet when I refer to the U.S. government I refer to the United States as "them". Not "us". Which gives you some idea of the times we're living in.
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