Antigua Willing to Settle Long Running Online Gaming Dispute with US

The seemingly never ending dispute between the United States and Antigua & Barbuda over the disruption of the latter’s online gaming sector may be entering yet another chapter.

Antigua & Barbuda’s Minister for International Trade and Foreign Affairs Charles Fernandez is scheduled to meet with a US Trade Representative this week with aims to resolve the long running dispute between the two nations.

The online gaming dispute between the US and Antigua dates back to 2003, when the Caribbean nation went to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to challenge the United States’ total prohibition of cross-border gambling services offered by Antigua-based companies.

In 2007, the WTO gave Antigua and Barbuda the right to target US services, trademarks and copyrights in retaliation to the prohibition up to a WTO-imposed limit of US$21 million.

Online gaming has been a major and integral part of Antigua and Barbuda’s economy since the mid-late 1990s, and the industry was once the second largest employer in the country, which has a population of around 82,000 people.

Antigua was adversely affected by the infamous Black Friday in 2011, which led to a number of online poker companies and businesses associated with online poker to shut their doors.

The latest efforts to resolve the decade-long standoff may not yield fruits for either country, however, given the stark contrast in views with regards to compensation.

The US has constantly refused to entertain the possibility of paying compensation to Antigua as a result of the decline of Antigua’s online gaming industry. However, the Antigua & Barbuda Government have claimed that its economy has lost approximately US$3 billion as a result of the US prohibition laws and it should be compensated accordingly.

Mr Fernandez has recently said that his government is willing to settle the dispute if it receives a compensation payment of US$100 million from the US Government. It is currently unclear whether the US will soften its stance towards compensation in this instance, but it will not be surprising if the US continues its anti-compensation stance.

Although some US states have legalized and regulated online poker and gaming in recent years, there are some vocal sections of US politics that remain vehemently against any online poker and gaming market in the US.

A decision to give Antigua any compensation will likely give the anti-online gaming sections in the US more fuel to continue their efforts to ban online poker and gaming in the country.

Giving compensation to Antigua may also set a precedent that could lead to other jurisdictions and governments attempting to take action on the US if they believe they could make similar cases for compensation.