Antigua has confirmed it plans to use the WTO ruling in favour of its egaming industry to force banks and media firms to deal with its operators, as exclusively revealed last year by eGaming Review.
Antiguan officials made the announcement following the filing of the US appeal of the decision on 7 January.
A statement from the Caribbean jurisdiction said it expected the appeal to be overruled and the US would be “obliged to change its laws to accommodate the ruling”.
“Major internet search engines, including Google and Yahoo, will have to reinstate entries for Antiguan internet gaming sites blocked following subpoenas from the US Justice Department,” the statement said.
And it added the banking and communication industries would also be targeted in an effort to overturn existing blocks on egaming firms.
“Major financial institutions, including Citibank, Chase Manhattan and Bank of America, and media companies including Infinity Broadcasting, Clear Channel Communications, the Travel Channel and Bravo TV, have turned away business from gambling corporations after receiving subpoenas and letters from the Justice Department,” it said.
“If the decision is upheld on appeal, these businesses should be in a position to enter transacted business with Antiguan gaming companies free from fear of prosecution.”
Mark Mendel, Antigua’s lead counsel in the dispute, said in those circumstances he was confident it would be impossible for the US to continue to use a moral argument against Antigua-based gambling sites.
"The US is the largest single gambling market in the world, and the largest exporter of gambling machines, technology and services,” Mendel said.
He also criticised US actions during the case, and claimed they failed to enter into serious negotiations on a resolution.
"In a series of negotiations over the past few months with the US in an attempt to reach a settlement, we advanced a number of proposals to accommodate US concerns," Mendel said.
"Unfortunately, it was clear from our perspective that none of our proposals received any serious consideration."
source : egaming review magazine
