WTO and US position on gambling
Recently, the World Trade Organization challenged US decisions to declare online gambling by US citizens illegal, claiming that these restrictions violate trade promises that the US has made. James Thayer has published a very clear overview of the issues here.
The US interprets the 1961 Wire Communications Act, written to address betting on sports over the telephone, to cover online gambling, and some site operators in the US have been prosecuted under this interpretation. Antigua made the argument to the WTO that the US was providing half of the world's customers for online gambling services, despite the illegality of this activity under US law. Antigua wants to help by providing gambling and betting services to the United States, but argues that the US has condemned such services as illegal.
Under an exception to the WTO's General Agreement on Trade and Services, members are permitted to adopt measures that are “necessary to protect public morals” even if they do not meet “market access” or “national treatment” standards of GATS, and the US has argued that its position with respect to gambling fits within this exception. So far, the WTO has dismissed this “public morals” argument, perhaps because online gambling is so easily available in the US.
Could it be that the global reputation of the US as a trade partner will be affected by this? DOJ takes the position that it should be able to govern information flows (like gambling) online. Gambling is unquestionably going on.
US citizens like gambling.
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I work at one of the betting exchanges in the UK, and we would be very interested should America every drop its trade barriers with us. Its very annoying to have to turning down hordes of customers who wish to use us, just because they are from America and we would be breaking American law if we let them.
The most common reason given for the requests is that British betting exchanges seem to offer far better odds than American bookies, by a very large margin.