GAMBLING : EU ONLINE GAMBLERS NUDGE COMMISSION ON US BAN.

The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) filed, on 20 December, a formal complaint to the European Commission over US trade laws outlawing foreign competition on the US gambling market. The RGA complaint was filed under the Trade Barriers Regulation (TBR) adopted in December 1994. The TBR allows EU companies, or association of companies, to complain directly to the Commission about obstacles to trade in third countries. The Commission may, on the basis of the RGA complaint, decide to act to end, via negotiations or a case at the World Trade Organisation, the US ban on foreign gaming operators.

The RGA complaint concerns the US Department of Justice threatening criminal prosecutions, forfeitures and other enforcement actions against foreign online gaming operators. At the same time, the RGA notes, domestic US online gaming operators, primarily horse bettors and state lotteries, are allowed to flourish. "Such actions violate WTO rules, enshrined in an international treaty signed by 150 nations...