Despite the tough talk on both sides of Antigua & Barbuda's Internet gaming dispute with the United States, the government said it was still very open to an amicable resolution to the matter.
However, such a resolution has been threatened by new legislation now being considered at the level of the US House of Representatives.
One of the laws currently being considered by US legislators, the Leach Internet Gaming Bill, could seriously impact Antigua & Barbuda's gaming industry by making it illegal for US financial institutions to conduct transactions between American residents and this country's gaming companies.
The Leach Bill and its partner legislation, the Goodlatte Bill, have been pursued despite Antigua & Barbuda's contention that, if passed, these laws would violate the rulings and recommendations of the World Trade Organisation with respect to Antigua & Barbuda's ongoing trade dispute with the US.
Last week, the judiciary committee of the US House of Representatives voted in favour of two Internet gaming bills and now the plan is for a joint sitting of the judiciary and banking committees to amalgamate the bills and then for the single bill to go before the House of Representatives for consideration.
"It is clear, with the bills going forward, that they are not interested in any of our proposals, which would be to move to a point where we can have some sort of unified regulatory space," Director of Gaming Kaye McDonald said.
If this legislation is passed, it would be just the worst case scenario that experts in the industry have been warning about for some time and McDonald said there was a significant amount of concern from both the gaming community and the government's gaming regulators.
"We are hoping that (the US) would not go ahead with any sort of bill that further prohibits or criminalises Internet gaming.
"Certainly, this is a very important sector for Antigua & Barbuda and we are hoping that we can come up with solutions that are amicable for both concerned.
"Prohibition is certainly not the way to go about it," she said.
She maintained that proper regulation and oversight was the way forward, making the point that the US was the largest market for Antiguan gaming companies and that the US government should be interested in protecting its consumers through these means and not in blocking the companies.
One of the contentions that Antigua & Barbuda's legal team has made was that the US has argued that it was restricting trans-national Internet gaming on moral grounds, although these restrictions are not uniformly applied.
McDonald also commented on this issue: "If you really wanted to address the situation then the solution would be to criminalise the participation from both ends, but they are not doing that.
"They are not saying that you can be prosecuted as a US citizen if you engage in Internet gaming.
"To really deal with the issues and the elements that they are concerned about would be to address it through regulatory measures - which we are doing in Antigua & Barbuda," she said.
source : Antigua Sun
