Antigua
Blasts US Law
As reported by Reuters: "Antigua
on Friday blasted the United States over what
the tiny Caribbean island state said were moves
to ensure it could not build up its fragile
economy through revenues from Internet gambling
services.
"Criticising
proposed U.S. laws to outlaw the $12 billion
online gambling industry, Antiguan ambassador
to the World Trade Organization John Ashe suggested
Washington felt it could act with impunity because
his country did not have the economic weight
to retaliate.
"'We
believe the time has come for the United States
to demonstrate ... whether the WTO agreements
are to work for us all equally, or whether the
WTO is indeed a 'one-way street' for the large
economies to further enrich themselves at the
expense of lesser ones,' Ashe told diplomats
at a session of the WTO's Dispute Settlement
Body (DSB).
"Antigua,
which has a population of 67,000 with few natural
resources and a declining tourist industry,
has since the late 1990s sought to build up
an Internet gambling industry to provide work
for its young people.
"…U.S.
officials say they are working to make clear
that domestic gambling operations in the country
are subject to exactly the same rules as foreign
ones, and that there is no discrimination against
Antigua…"
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