EU, Bush administration officials to meet regarding U.S. ban on online gambling
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European Union officials are planning to meet with members of the Bush administration in July before a possible international challenge to the U.S. ban on online gambling based on trade agreements.
According to an article in The Hill, the Remote Gambling Association may be seeking to challenge the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed in 2006 — the law caused many of its members to stop doing business in the United States market because of fear of prosecution. It contends that its members lost hundreds of millions of dollars in stock value because of the law, and the value of their stock continues to be harmed by the threat of U.S. action.
The RGA argues that the U.S. Department of Justice should not be going after its members who were doing business in the United States before the passage of the 2006 law; the U.S. contends that it has always been illegal to gamble online, and that the UIGEA was simply an enforcement measure.
According to the article:
As part of its investigation, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has sent questionnaires to several House and Senate committees and U.S. agencies seeking information on the 2006 law.
Answers to the questionnaires, and the interviews of U.S. officials, could be precursors to an actual World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge, although some have speculated that the effort is only intended to pressure DoJ to back off its enforcement actions. The U.S. trade official emphasized that the EU effort is only an investigation.
The European Union will hope to negotiate a settlement in this case rather than have it become a larger issue via the WTO, according to the story.
