As reported by: Nation Newspaper Barbados
LAST WEEK Antigua won a world Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling that a United States law making online gambling a crime, must be struck down as being counter to international treaties.

The United States has indicated it will appeal this decision and already there is speculation whether a small country could succeed in this kind of dispute against a major power. But we shall see.

In March this year a WTO panel held that, by prohibiting Americans from gambling over the Internet, the United States was violating international trade rules and ordered it to bring state and federal law into conformity with its commitments.

The US appeal is based on the grounds that Internet gambling is a threat to its sovereignty and an invitation to organised crime. This doesn't hold water, as gambling is quite pervasive within the country.

In the wake of President George W. Bush's re-election, American liberals (and more than a few conservatives) have proclaimed that “family values” (or, in a variation, “moral values”) were the salient issue that tipped the scales.

For example, Congress has enacted laws that make it a crime for citizens and residents to gamble at Internet web sites. It is also a crime to manage, own, operate or promote web-based gambling within the United States.

But federal and state laws allow Americans to gamble (a) in state-sponsored lotteries; (b) at race tracks; (c) on slot machines that subsidise racetracks; (d) everywhere in Nevada, especially Las Vegas, and in Atlantic City, New Jersey; (e) on Indian reservations and, (d) on permanently docked riverboats and on ocean cruises.

But if its citizens gamble through the Internet, the government says this is a crime, for which you could be imprisoned. And it has pressured major credit card companies into denying cardholders the right to use their cards for Internet gambling.

Now comes the small Caribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda, home to numerous legal gambling web sites that provide significant employment, and complains to the WTO that the strong-arm United States anti-web gambling ban is crushing its fragile economy.

Almost 2 000 Antiguan Internet gambling workers have already have lost their jobs because of the United States ban. This has had serious impact on its economy, which is now under severe pressure.

American officials sanctimoniously claim that Internet gambling promotes crime and money laundering. This from the nation through which billions in dirty cash flows every day.

If Antigua could capture just one per cent of the reported US$73 billion in gambling revenue, it could conceivably double its gross domestic product. If it wins the WTO ruling, it faces intense worldwide competition, and every country benefits.

While we respect those who espouse moral values, the stench of hypocrisy is all too evident. We are betting on Antigua.