November 20, 2007

Internet Gambling Ban Easing?

It feels like a long-shot, but some congress-people are making a push to try to ease internet gambling bans. Casino City Times has the story:

The Bush administration should consider relaxing laws against Internet gambling rather than risk setting a potentially expensive and "worrisome" precedent with European nations and other trade partners, eight lawmakers said in a letter on Monday.
The lawmakers were critical of the U.S. government reaction after it lost a World Trade Organization dispute with the tiny Caribbean nation of Antigua over online casinos. U.S. officials declared the administration never meant for Internet gambling to be covered by international trade agreements.

Arbitrators now are considering damage claims from Antigua, an online gaming haven that said a U.S. law seeking to block betting over the Internet was an illegal form of protectionism.

Other members of the World Trade Organization, including the European Union, Japan and Australia, also are claiming compensation for lost online gaming revenues in the billions of dollars.

Compensation "could prove expensive to the U.S. economy," the lawmakers said in a letter to Susan Schwab, the U.S. trade representative. "However, we are perhaps more concerned about what this withdrawal says about U.S. credibility as a trading partner."