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Costa
Rica To Seek Compensation From US On
Online Gambling Policy
Costa Rica will join World Trade Organization (WTO)
members: European Union (EU), Antigua & Barbuda,
India and Japan in seeking compensation from the
United States, according to reports on
Point-Spreads, relating to Washington's removal
of online gambling and online poker from its
trade obligations, after the WTO repeatedly
ruled that Washington's ban on remote Internet
gambling violates WTO trade agreements that the
United States signed.
When the U.S. lost its final appeal March 2007
the United States Trade Representative's office
(USTR) announced that it would take the
unprecedented legal step of changing the
international commitments it made as part of the
1994 General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS) agreement amongst the 150 members of the
WTO.
Under the GATS, if a country withdraws its
commitments other nations can seek compensation
for any services trade opportunities that they
could prove they lost through the change.
So Costa Rica will seek compensation from the
United States for economic hardships caused by
the US crackdown related to online gambling.
The Central American nation of Costa Rica has
been particularly adversely affected by US
policy towards online gambling, since it
domiciles more online gambling companies than
any other country in the world.
Online betting firm BetonSports was forced to
shut down and lay off over 1,000 employees,
after receiving many indictments from the US
government. Also Bodog, BetUS and other related
Costa Rican employers have downsized as a result
of US-facing portions of their businesses being
curtailed.
Costa Rica is also very aware of the domino
effect that cut-backs and layoffs by major
Internet gaming employers have had on all Costa
Rican businesses that directly or indirectly
supported the industry, including
telecommunications, travel and leisure, banking,
hotel, restaurant, and entertainment sectors.
Gambling911 relays that "at one time it was
widely believed that the Internet gambling
sector employed at least 10,000 Costa Ricans
either directly or indirectly."
No compensation figure has been disclosed, but
Point-Spreads sources confirmed with Marco
Vinicio Ruiz, the Costa Rican Minister of
Commerce, that the letter requesting
compensation from the United States would be
sent to the WTO.
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