"Complaint Of The Island Of Antigua Against Us Law May Change The Face Of Online Gambling"

Antigua, which is a small island nation located in the Caribbean has been focusing its efforts on the development of its e-commerce industry and especially its online gambling industry, in its attempt to diversify its economy and attract foreign capital.

This is a nation that has traditionally been dependent on tourism trade to sustain its economy. It has suffered from a series of hurricanes that has hit the area in the 1990s scaring away tourism. For this reason the government is hoping that online gambling will pick up the slack and be the answer to their economic woes. It has been estimated that such sites could create at least 3000 additional jobs for those living in Antigua. There is however, one significant barrier to this and that comes from the United States. Internet gambling has been band in the United States where it is asserted that online gambling sites are in violation of some United States state laws designed to prohibit gambling. This is in spite of the fact that there are no federal laws that prohibit gambling. The United States has been employing the 1961 Wire Communications Act to bring charges against gaming site operators. These charges are very difficult to enforce since practically all of the sites are located in nations where Internet gambling is not illegal.

Nevertheless such nations as Antigua who are placing their hopes on this industry’s ability to give strength to their economy, are being hurt. In 2003, Antigua responded to the ban by filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization. Government representatives from Antigua have argued that the these United States restrictions on online gambling sites are in violation of U.S. trade agreements with the WTO. Officials from the Antiguan government argued that through banning U.S. citizens from playing online on Antigua’s

gambling sites, the efforts of Antigua to diversify and strengthen its economy have been obstructed.