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WTO Again Sides With Antigua Over Online Gambling
TechDirt writes "For some time we've been following the ongoing conflict between the US and the island nation of Antigua surrounding internet gambling. Even before the passage of the most recent anti-gambling law, Antigua had gone to the WTO to complain that the US government's actions against online gambling were de facto protectionist measures, and thus violated international trade law. The WTO ended up siding with Antigua, although, quite predictably, the US did nothing to resolve the issue -- in fact, things have only gotten worse. Now the WTO is speaking out again, slamming the US government for its failure to abide by the decision against it. Once again, it seems likely that the US will ignore the decision, although that would give Antigua the right to retaliate. One possibility that's been thrown out there is that Antigua may turn itself into a haven for free music and software and set up some site like allofmp3.com. Of course, the US put pressure on Russia to crack down on that site, as part of the country's admittance into the WTO, but since Antigua is already part of the organization, the US would have no such leverage. Now, the WTO has spoken out again."
There's nothing pathetic about protecting your citizens from gambling away their mortgage/rent/food money with the ease of a click of a mouse button.
Try not to be an anti-US sheeple for once.
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
I agree with your view of the issue, but I think you're wrong about your average slashdotter.
Your average slashdotter will line up behind anybody with an unpopular cause. They're just sheep who like to bitch a lot and feel repressed.
Laws in the US also only allows certain type of drinking (i.e. must be over 21), certain types of porn, certain types of drugs, and on and on.
If some other country decided to setup an online site to sell booze, child porn, and marijuana over the internet, why wouldn't the same laws apply.
The WTO has overstepped their bounds. This isn't about putting tariffs on coffee or corn, this is about introducing something into a society that has made it illegal. Whether or not the law 'makes sense' is irrelevant. There are many arbitrary laws, such as drinking ages and speed limits. One could argue that making possession of marijuana illegal is also arbitrary since cigarettes and alcohol are also legal.
I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
I guess this points out how any subject can be endlessly convoluted: the Canadian softwood lumber industry is subsidized by the government, as well as by loggers poaching lumber from the US. Gives the American lumber industry fits. Or so I hear from up in Maine.
An organization that makes unenforceable rulings is a justification for complaint and nothing more. If the short-term pursuit of money in Antigua threatens entrenched interests elsewhere, no amount of squawking will make a difference.
Curiosity may have killed any number of things, but never itself.
It's amusing to me. When the US protests the WTO's rulings on environmental issues (clean air, dolphin netting), nobody here will come to the US's defense. But when the WTO says the US is being naughty about the nasty business of gambling, everybody comes out to post.
I am not going to say the US is perfect by any stretch, but the bias on this site is practically a living thing.
-Jeff
P.S. Note - I bet in office pools, very occasionally play poker, etc. But organized gambling is nothing more than a way to fleece money from mathematically-challenged poor people, or people with a compulsive disorder. It's a very ugly business.
Please learn the difference between a dissenting opinion and a troll before you moderate.
So we wouldn't have to listen to a bunch of punk-ass Europeans telling us what to do. I don't know why the WTO was founded. I don't care. No real American would care; and I might argue that no real patriot anywhere should care. Don't get me wrong, I've got no problem with the US signing and honoring treaties with individual nations; but this business of having sweeping international agreements and organizations to govern the way we behave is contrary to the whole concept of the US, and to nation-states in general. One world government is bad, not because I'm ascared of the black helly-copters, no, it's bad for the same reason that any monopoly is bad. "Consumers" should demand a wide variety of choices in nations and their governance, even moreso than they demand a wide variety of automobiles and TV sets.
It's silly anyway. Tiny nation states like Antigua have always been the kinds of places where people from other nation-states go to get away from laws they don't like. Only difference now is that Emily Post, in the form of the WTO, is telling us that it's not polite. Well, suck my dick Ms. Post.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Like anyone gives a shit what Canadians think. Try actually traveling the world and talking to some people. Your dumb ass drinking buddies don't count.
"I always make it a point to let people know that I'm Canadian. Hell, when my AMERICAN friends travel they do the same. I wonder why that might be?"
Because you're all stupid. By the way, a Canadian talking about freedom? That's like an American talking about temperence.
Full of ourselves? How am I full of myself? I was simply stating comments I've heard from countless people in and from other countries and how they felt about America until recent years. In fact, I believe there is a documentary somewhere that interviews a lot of people around the world as well and the common view was that people didn't so much hate America as feel disappointed by seeing how it has deteriorated from the place they grew up admiring.
If you actually had the reading comprehension of an orangutan, you'd have understood that what I said was that individuals (governments aside) generally held America in some degree of respect and awe not too long ago. They no longer do. At best, they pity us and what we've become. We failed miserably. And worse, there is a large part of our population that doesn't even care or acknowledge that we have had any failings. This "love it or leave it" crowd that completely disregards the opinions and impressions of the rest of the world does us no service.
You did an admirable job listing a handful of political differences and problems between a number of countries involving America. Now, get off your fucking pedestal for just a second and have speaks with people. A lot of us in the world are rational enough that we see the people of a country as somewhat distinct from their governments.
By the way, what keeps you from being quite such a target of hate for the world is the fact that you are not the world superpower.
But, hey, you know - great just misinterpreting and twisting what I had to say. At least you're good for something.