In a strange epilogue to the decision by the United States government (pre-midterm changeover) to place limits on funding for online poker, the country of Antigua has won the legal right to ignore US copyrights thanks to the World Trade Organization.
From the New York Times:
The award follows a W.T.O. ruling that Washington had wrongly blocked online gambling operators on the island from the American market at the same time it allowed online wagering on horse racing.
…[T]he ruling is significant in that it grants a rare form of compensation: the right of one country, in this case Antigua, to violate intellectual property laws of another — the United States — by allowing it to distribute copies of American music, movie and software products.
…Though Antigua is best known for its pristine beaches and tourist attractions, the dozens of online casinos based there are important to the island’s economy as its second-largest employer.
This result was expected by many pundits in the days following the original law passing. However, this is not a big win for Antigua: it will be difficult to enforce, and the US has plenty of other ways to fight back. Still, it has proved that at least in some way the laws under which the US claims to operate as far as gambling goes are hypocritical at best.
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