 European
Web Gambling Firms
Take Action Against
US
European online
gaming firms are
filing a formal
complaint against
the United States
for discrimination
after their
controversial exit
from the US market.
The companies say
that the US
Department of
Justice has violated
international trade
law by kicking them
out of the market
and taking legal
action while
allowing domestic
online gaming
operators to
continue trading.
The move by the
Remote Gaming
Association (RGA)
comes only days
after the European
Union agreed a trade
deal with the US to
compensate the bloc
for loss of earnings
from gaming.
European online
gaming firms, such
as PartyGaming,
888.com and
Sportingbet, have
been hit hard after
they were forced to
stop doing business
in the lucrative US
market following a
rule change last
year.
“We have been left
with no choice but
to pursue all legal
avenues available to
challenge the US
Department of
Justice for its
discriminatory
enforcement
activities against
European online
gaming operators,”
Clive Hawkswood, the
chief executive of
the RGA, said.
The group has asked
the EU to
investigate the
situation, arguing
that although the US
has repeatedly
stated that all
forms of online
gambling are
illegal, it has
enforced this view
only with non-US
businesses.
“How would US
investors and
businessmen feel if
they invested in a
business in the UK
based on
international law
commitments, and
then suddenly the UK
not only passed new
laws forcing them to
shut down their
business but tried
to throw them in
jail for past
activities, while
still allowing their
domestic competitors
to continue on doing
the same thing?” Mr
Hawkswood said.
Last year the US
Congress made it
illegal to make
payments to online
gambling sites, and
in May this year the
US said that it was
excluding gambling
services from
market-opening
commitments it made
as part of a 1994
world trade deal.
The Department of
Justice has
subsequently
threatened and
carried out legal
action against
European firms.
On Monday a trade
compensation deal
was agreed between
the EU and the US
that will allow
European companies
access to the US
postal market and
warehouse sector as
compensation for the
lack of access to
gaming.
The European
gambling industry
had hoped that the
EU would push the US
into allowing it
back into the US
market.
Although the trade
deal gave
compensation, it did
not deal with the
legal side of the
dispute, the RGA
says.
----
Peter Stiff, Times
Online
Originally published
to Gambling911.com
December 20, 2007
8:46 am EST
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