Gambling and the WTO

As the Leisure Industries also comprise the Gaming Industry, some members of our committee have a keen eye on the legal developments in this area of the law. Our Section scholarship this year was dedicated to the legal complexities of Interlegal Gambling, Fair Trade, and such issues and one of our Singapore panels will deal with this topic.

In the meantime, a WTO Compliance Panel on March 30, 2007 ruled that US Federal Law prohibiting internet gambling violates the obligations of the United States under WTO GATS. The decision can be found at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/285rw-a_e.pdf. There is still a debate whether the victory of Antigua will be short-lived or fundamental: what does the US need to do to be in compliance? An interesting analysis can be found at Prof. I Nelson Rose informative site www.Gamblingandthelaw.com.

Of course, if you want the deep down analysis, you will need to make it to Singapore and join us and a panel of experts in the Suntec Centre on this topic on October 16, 2007.