International Client Alert- April 2004

A dispute panel of the World Trade Organization ruled in favor of the tiny Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda on the complaint that the Caribbean nation brought against the United States. The complaint alleged that U.S. laws prohibiting Internet gambling violated U.S. obligations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

The text of the panel ruling has not yet been released, and is not expected to be released until late May. However, based on the arguments made by the parties in the proceedings it is possible to surmise at least part of the basis for the panel’s rulings.

Antigua and Barbuda had argued that a series of U.S. laws that had been construed to prohibit Internet gambling had the effect of prohibiting other WTO members from providing gambling services, while U.S. concerns could provide similar, but "land-based," gambling services. Such differential treatment was argued to