| | |  | Last Updated: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |  | | | U.S. Gambling Deadline Draws Near
- Friday, 24 Mar 2006
In 1961 the Wire Act was passed in the U.S. mainly to prevent horse race gambling from occuring over the phone. 45 years later, and thousands of technological advancements since, the U.S. government is not willing to update their legislation in order to legalize online gambling. The effects that this could have on the governments of other countries, especially if the U.S. begins to striclty enforce these regulations, could be massive. The April 3, 2006 deadline looms and still no word from U.S.A. The U.S. government's move to effectively outlaw online casino and sports betting by prohibiting U.S. banks and Internet service providers from offering financial and Internet services to online bettors and the sites they frequent threatens to destroy the fragile economies of island nations Antigua and Barbuda.
In an effort to stave off those devastating effects, these online gambling revenue-dependant governments took the U.S. before the World Trade Organization seeking relief. And relief was what they were granted.
The Geneva-based WTO ruled in April 2005 that the U.S. action illegally violated world trade agreements and gave the U.S. until April 3, 2006 to create legislation that was compliant. With less than ten days to go, the U.S. has remained silent.
"The U.S. government's interference with a multi billion-dollar industry, and its attempts to legislate the morals of its citizens, is simply a ploy to protect its own tax revenues by blocking the outflow of gambling money from its shores", said Marianne Anderson, Director of Marketing at USsportsBook.com, a Costa Rica-based online gambling site. She further stated that the U.S. failure to implement the decision of the WTO further damages the country's image in the eyes of smaller nations who used to look to the U.S. as a role model for international business relations.
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