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Casino Restriction in Violation of GATS
The governments of Antigua and Barbuda
currently are claiming that the restrictions proposed by the U.S.
concerning gambling on the internet are in direct violation of the
General Agreement on Trade in Service. This agreement was created
to foster a positive international trading atmosphere because of
the increasing awareness of the global economy. Currently, Antigua
and Barbuda feel they are getting the short end of the stick when
it comes to internet gambling.
Apparently this has been a hot issue
at the World Trade Organization. The US claims that the allocation
of internet services, especially gambling, were never considered
apart of this international trade agreement. The World Trade
Organization is not entirely in agreement with U.S.
representatives claim. Two WTO panels ruled in March 2004 and
April 2005 that the United States should change its domestic laws
to fit under the guidelines as proposed by the General Agreement
on Trades in Services (GATS).
The problems the U.S. is facing are; the
possibility of minors having access to gambling sites, gambling
addiction, and tax evasion. All of these problem have been
addressed by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, who have
offered initiatives to beef up regulation of internet casino
companies that will prevent transactions with minors, money
laundering, and put into operation machinery that will make
certain all taxes, as they applied to winnings, would be paid to
the U.S. treasury.
With the American allowance of online
betting on horse races and state wide lotteries, the problem seems
less about morality and more about control. The internet sites
that are based out of foreign governments are met with skepticism
and scrutiny. These are the very attitudes that the GATS was
intended to eliminate in the current rising global market.
It is clear to any onlooker that the current
state of the online casino industry would categorize its presence
as viable in the U.S. market. It would behoove the government to
create policies that regulated its use rather than barricade it.
It would seem that the pressures, both inside and outside the US,
are pushing toward keeping electronic gambling as part of the
framework of the economy.
-Current
Online Casino News-
-August
News-
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