Letter from WSEX

[tschmitt]

Just got this email from WSEX.



This email is being sent to all World Sports Exchange customers as a courtesy to the Antigua Online Gaming Association.

Greetings Players,

As you may be aware, online gaming has been under attack by the United States for the last decade. The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has successfully challenged the malicious prosecution of Antiguan operators in the World Trade Organization. The WTO has found that the US's application of its laws against Antiguan entities is protectionist and in violation of the General Agreement on Trade in Services.

Now that Antigua has won the legal battle, it can use political support in Congress. Here's how you can help. Please email and phone your Representative in the House of Representatives and your two Senators. Remind them that the United States needs to abide by the decision in the Antigua-Gaming matter if they expect other countries to comply with WTO decisions in favor of the United States.

Here is a link to a letter to the USTR from Representative Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs:

http://www.antiguawto.com/LettertoUSTR.pdf

Rep. Ros-Lehtinen eloquently noted, "...our failure to resolve this dispute may harm our credibility as we seek to press countries like China regarding their violations on a range of issues, including intellectual property protection, subsidies, and currency manipulation." She further warned, "In the event the United States fails to reach a satisfactory resolution of the Antigua dispute, it could provide China with an argument to ignore a WTO decision favorable to the United States."

Please send the link above to your Representative and Senators. Ask them to send similar letters to the United States Trade Representative. Let them know you vote, you pay taxes, and you think the United States should comply with the decision in the Antigua-Gaming matter.

To contact your Representative and two Senators, follow the links below or call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and give them your zip code. Make sure you call three times.

http://www.house.gov
http://www.senate.gov

We will continue to fight the legal battle, please help us with the political fight.

Thank you,

Antigua Online Gaming Association
www.aoga.ag

Im sure some people here have already done this but just letting everyone else know where to send there emails for their support.

 

[vinnie]

The WTO is a legal system set up to regulate the bring order to world trade. WTO members agree to stand up and uphold any decisions that the WTO renders. Full compliance with the WTO rulings is one of the fundamental cornerstones in which the continued functioning of the international trade system rests.

The number of US non-compliance cases has increased remarkably ever President Bush too office. However, there has never been any WTO decisions to date where the US has not eventually abided by.

Currently, the US has a pending claim against China involving intellectual property. The US will probably win, but China will raise the US's lack of compliance in the Antigua case as a defense.

This is no longer about online gambling. This is a trade issue. It is about protectionism and the rest of the world is watching.

Antigua will do whatever it has to in order to get the attention of the US. I believe the parties who have strong interests in intellectual property fully understand the ramifications of the US not complying in this dispute. They will bring political pressure on Congress and the government for them to resolve this matter.

Furthermore, once the Motion Picture Association, the RIAA, and Microsoft realize they could become the collateral damage in this case, they will bring pressure on the US government to resolve this matter.

This is a straight forward case of US protectionism. It's really simple to resolve.

Let me add that the US claims of inadvertently including gaming in 1995 is complete hogwash. In 1995 the US was one of the world's largest exporter of gambling technology. They saw no threat and wanted to keep that rolling.

It's time for the US to wake up and realize they can't pick and choose which decisions they will abide by and still expect the system to work.

 

[Dr. Fade]

Fvcking hypocrites

 

[tschmitt]

Nice post vinnie, couldnt agree more dr. fade.