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The Mouse Roars Again


2007-03-31 09:02:21
By: Gene Bromberg

Yesterday the World Trade Organization ruled that the United States has failed to comply with an earlier ruling made concerning online gambling. In 2005 Antigua brought a complaint to the WTO, arguing that US laws discriminated against gaming compaines based overseas. The WTO ruled in Antigua's favor, and the U.S. response was to do...nothing.

The passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in October did nothing to change the WTO's opinion about the U.S. position. From the WTO's ruling:

"Since the original [WTO] proceeding, the United States had an opportunity to remove the ambiguity and thereby comply with the recommendations and rulings," the panel said. "Instead . . .  the United States enacted legislation that confirmed that the ambiguity at the heart of this dispute remains."

If the U.S. continues the flaunt the WTO's ruling, Antigua would be able to retaliate. Now, what exactly could an island nation of 83,000 do to "retaliate" against the United States? Well...how about ignoring U.S. copyright laws and making Antigua the home for some real Pirates of the Caribbean? As Radley Balko argues in his piece:

"Imagine Antigua as the one-stop spot for knock-off designer fashions, music dowloads, pirated software, and bootlegged movies. Imagine also the delicious spectacle of Microsoft, Hollywood, and the RIAA doing battle with moral blowhards like Sen. John Kyl and Rep. Bob Goodlatte."

Bad laws can have repercussions that can affect far more people that they originally targeted. And every day we seem to get more evidence that the UIGEA is, in every way, a pointless and counterproductive law.


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