“WTO Ruling on Gambling Creates Confusion”

Creating more confusion than they’ve resolved, the WTO’s recent verdict regarding the legitimacy of U.S. offshore gambling has many people scratching their heads. Did Antigua and Barbuda win the case? Did the U.S.? At the moment, it appears that they both lost, and they both won.

An original WTO decision stating that the U.S. was indeed violating international trade agreements by banning online gambling is in question once again. The WTO seems to be backtracking, saying now that in fact the U.S. restrictions on online gambling are a necessity – that these restrictions “uphold public morality” and “public order,” and that the U.S. has legitimate worries regarding the social problems involved with online gambling. Where this leaves Antigua and Barbuda is anyone’s guess.

The WTO seems to find no inconsistency in their rulings. They claim both that the U.S. can maintain the online gambling restrictions that Antigua and Barbuda railed against, and also that U.S. policies are discriminatory. The U.S. is claiming victory, in that the WTO’s ruling allows for most of the restrictions on the online gambling industry to stay in place, but Antigua and Barbuda are also claiming victory, in that the WTO’s ruling makes it clear that U.S. policies are unfair. How, they say, can it be okay to give American citizens access to domestic gambling services but not to offshore online gambling services? Attorneys for Antigua see the WTO ruling as giving clear permission to U.S. companies to do business with Antigua-based online gambling companies.

The only thing that seems clear at this point is just how unclear the rules and regulations surrounding the online gambling industry are.