ANTIGUAN MINISTER EXPRESSES SHOCK AND DISMAY AT US ONLINE GAMBLING MEASURE

(659) (10-October-2006)

Antigua tried to work amicably with US trade representatives, says minister

Newly returned to Antigua from a mission to persuade officials to accept the WTO's anti-US ruling on Internet gambling, the Antiguan minister of finance, Dr. Errol Cort says he is shocked and dismayed at Congressional actions in approving the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.

Cort commented: "It is remarkable that on the heels of our visit, during the course of which we highlighted the desire of Antigua to amicably work together with the United States Government in ensuring the safe delivery of these services to consumers in America, that Congress should choose to further protect their remote domestic industry at the cost of countries such as Antigua and Barbuda."

While expanding domestic opportunities for legal Internet gaming through exemptions, the new legislation effectively bans all international and inter-state online gaming financial transactions by making it illegal for banks and credit card firms to make payments to such internet operations, says the minister.

Dr Cort's delegation held a series of meetings with representatives of the US Department of State, the US Trade Representative, the Department of Justice and with Members of Congress, in an attempt to resolve the impasse over the American government's refusal to comply with a WTO ruling.

Antigua-based operators are thought to account for 25 percent of the estimated $6 billion wagered online by American gamblers every year.

Apart from the new legislation, Antigua has been alarmed by other recent developments such as the June 1st indictment against BetonSports, effectively shutting down the company which ran its US internet business from Costa Rica and Antigua, and the attempted extradition levelled at the chairman of Sportingbet, Peter Dicks, by the Louisiana authorities, who accused him of "gambling by computer", thereby violating the state's morality laws.

Non-US commentators almost unanimously see the legislation as blatantly protectionist and hypocritical, and note that it should probably be seen as political in nature, given the up-coming mid-term Congressional elections.