counter attack or pissing in the wind?

shrapnel222

Although i doubt much will come of this, it's nice to see the European Commission make some kind of a stand. This could be a case of good timing so that the next incoming president has to deal with this not only from a european perpespective but also from a WTO perspective who hopefully might have made some kind of ruling or indication of a ruling by then.



by PokerPages.com
Thu, Jun 19th, 2008 @ 12:00am

A number of US government agencies and gaming-related businesses have until next Monday 23 June to respond to a questionnaire from the European Commission regarding a formal complaint filed by European online poker and Internet gaming operators against the US for discriminatory and protectionist practices in violation of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.


The information gathered from state and federal authorities, gambling operators and industry service providers will form part of the Commission's decision whether or not to uphold the complaint filed through the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) last December.

The RGA's complaint highlights the uneven treatment, when compared to their US counterparts, metered out to European and other foreign online operators by the US Department of Justice in relation to their involvement in gambling businesses which took place before the US withdrew from its WTO commitments last December.

Clive Hawkswood, chief executive of the RGA, is confident the EU will establish sufficient grounds for bringing a case to the WTO under complaint of a breach of the treaty, but believes a negotiated settlement is more likely. "The simplest approach would be for the US to give some kind of undertaking that they won't prosecute or pursue people involved with the European industry for taking bets while this treaty was in place," he said.

Hawkswood is also hoping the publicity around the case will raise the profile of this issue in the US. "So a wider group of opinion holders in the US will ask what are we protecting here if we are falling out with the European Union and other trading partners?" he added.

He also welcomed the imminent visit of the EU Commission to Washington. "The Commission is planning to go to Washington with (EU Trade Commissioner) Peter Mandelson, and this will be one of the issues they will discuss while they are there. They are also likely to hold a press briefing, which would be welcomed by us," he said.

Original Article by Egaming Review

BiffoBeater

shrapnel222 wrote: »

Although i doubt much will come of this, it's nice to see the European Commission make some kind of a stand. This could be a case of good timing so that the next incoming president has to deal with this not only from a european perpespective but also from a WTO perspective who hopefully might have made some kind of ruling or indication of a ruling by then.



by PokerPages.com
Thu, Jun 19th, 2008 @ 12:00am

A number of US government agencies and gaming-related businesses have until next Monday 23 June to respond to a questionnaire from the European Commission regarding a formal complaint filed by European online poker and Internet gaming operators against the US for discriminatory and protectionist practices in violation of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.


The information gathered from state and federal authorities, gambling operators and industry service providers will form part of the Commission's decision whether or not to uphold the complaint filed through the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) last December.

The RGA's complaint highlights the uneven treatment, when compared to their US counterparts, metered out to European and other foreign online operators by the US Department of Justice in relation to their involvement in gambling businesses which took place before the US withdrew from its WTO commitments last December.

Clive Hawkswood, chief executive of the RGA, is confident the EU will establish sufficient grounds for bringing a case to the WTO under complaint of a breach of the treaty, but believes a negotiated settlement is more likely. "The simplest approach would be for the US to give some kind of undertaking that they won't prosecute or pursue people involved with the European industry for taking bets while this treaty was in place," he said.

Hawkswood is also hoping the publicity around the case will raise the profile of this issue in the US. "So a wider group of opinion holders in the US will ask what are we protecting here if we are falling out with the European Union and other trading partners?" he added.

He also welcomed the imminent visit of the EU Commission to Washington. "The Commission is planning to go to Washington with (EU Trade Commissioner) Peter Mandelson, and this will be one of the issues they will discuss while they are there. They are also likely to hold a press briefing, which would be welcomed by us," he said.

Original Article by Egaming Review

Nice post, brings up some interesting posts.

Ive come across this Hawkswood fellow in a previous line of work, and without meaning to slander anybody, he seems like a nasty piece of work.:eek::mad::eek::mad:

CHD

slander imo

RoundTower

kind of irrelevant imo. Everyone has already agreed that the US is in breach of the WTO treaties it agreed to, but they have already told the rest of the world to suck it and that they won't be honouring those treaties any time soon. The EU chiming in isn't going to make a difference.

hotspur

Biffo for someone so interested in legal action (no problems with people pasting from Pokerpages obviously)you should know that slander is oral.

But anyway, the truth of it is that the EU already sold its online gambling companies down the river when they accepted trade concessions on things like mail services as reparation for losses of online gaming companies from Europe when America withdrew its General Agreement on Trade in Services gambling commitments. The upshot of this new thing even if it leads to a complaint to the WTO it won't force the US to let them back in, it would just probably result in some other concessions that don't benefit the firms at all.

BiffoBeater

hotspur wrote: »

Biffo for someone so interested in legal action (no problems with people pasting from Pokerpages obviously)you should know that slander is oral.

But anyway, the truth of it is that the EU already sold its online gambling companies down the river when they accepted trade concessions on things like mail services as reparation for losses of online gaming companies from Europe when America withdrew its General Agreement on Trade in Services gambling commitments. The upshot of this new thing even if it leads to a complaint to the WTO it won't force the US to let them back in, it would just probably result in some other concessions that don't benefit the firms at all.

Note taken, wont make this mistake in the future:D:D