The dispute between Antigua and the United States is heating up again. Late last year, the tiny island nation was awarded $21 million in compensation for a trade disparity that resulted from the U.S. not allowing foreign online gambling operators to solicit American customers. Now, Antigua and Costa Rica have both filed for World Trade Organization arbitration in the matter. The news comes on the heels of the Remote Gambling Association lodging a complaint with the European Commission concerning discriminatory practices by the U.S. Government. PocketFives.com sat down with Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of the RGA, to discuss the latest events. In addition, we spoke with Michael Thaidigsmann, an independent consultant, on the RGA’s role.

On January 28th, a briefing was held in Brussels to talk about the latest developments between the U.S. and European Union. Taking center stage was Joseph Weiler, who, according to Thaidigsmann, is “a renowned expert on international law and on European-U.S. relations. He is not an official representative of either the RGA or the European Commission, but rather an independent advocate for a fair and expeditious settlement of this issue that is in the best interests of the WTO and of U.S.-E.U. relations.” Weiler is the European Union Jean Monnet Chair at the New York University School of Law and also served as a member of the Committee of Jurists of the European Parliament that co-drafted the Declaration of Human Rights and Freedoms.

His comments were not sugar-coated. He struck at the recent Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and the U.S. Government: “There are certain countries which, whilst preaching to the world about the importance of the rule of law and human rights, will throw ‘foreigners’ in jail for engaging in legitimate economic activity protected by WTO rules. In this case one does not even have the fig leaf of ‘national security’ as a justification. This type of behaviour by the U.S. government is detrimental to the entire multilateral trading system.”

In response to what it deemed a non-optimal solution to the E.U/U.S. dispute, the Remote Gambling Association filed a complaint with the European Commission alleging discrimination. The organization had to file with the Commission because an industry, itself, can’t file with the WTO. The RGA filed on behalf of its members, companies like CryptoLogic, Microgaming, and PartyGaming.

Here’s an update from Hawkswood about where the RGA complaint currently stands: “The complaint under the EU's Trade Barrier Regulation was formally filed at the end of December. We are confident that the European Commission will decide later this month to open a formal investigation. We are in close cooperation with the Commission services that deal with this issue and, so far, the feedback has been pretty positive.”

The RGA, according to Hawkswood, is hoping to accomplish the following as a result of the complaint: “Ultimately, we want to stop U.S. authorities from applying discriminatory standards against executives of European gambling service providers. These actions clearly are in violation of WTO rules and we hope to enlist the European Commission's support on this issue.”

On January 31st, Costa Rica and Antigua each filed for WTO arbitration. Hawkswood comments on his ideal outcome: “This arbitration should confirm that the U.S. has not offered appropriate compensation for its withdrawal of the GATS commitment. We hope this will put some pressure on the U.S. to respect its international obligations and we’d also like to see the United States change its policies and introduce a regulated licensing system that is open to all responsible online gaming services operators, be they U.S.-based or not.” This solution sounds very similar to the outcome the Poker Players Alliance and Congressman Barney Frank are hoping to achieve.

Because it essentially banished foreign internet gambling firms from attracting U.S. customers, the U.S. has already had to settle claims with several countries. A press release by the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative outlines exactly how deep a hole the U.S. has dug for itself: “Under the WTO’s GATS Article XXI rules, any country withdrawing its market access must provide compensation to affected countries that maintains a general level of mutually advantageous commitments not less favorable to trade than that provided for in schedules of specific commitments prior to the negotiations. The U.S. negotiated settlements with four of the eight nations seeking compensation - the E.U., Japan, Canada, and Australia, providing compensation, in the form of markets access to U.S. domestic postal services, warehousing, R & D, and technical testing sectors.”

In the case of Antigua, the $21 million was awarded against patent and copyright infringements, meaning companies like Microsoft and Disney (which owns ABC, among other companies) could be targeted.

Poker players everywhere can take some degree of comfort in knowing there are many organizations working for their cause. Check out the Remote Gambling Association’s latest efforts at their website, http://www.rga.eu.com/.