25-09-2007 Antigua seeks WTO authorization to impose sanctions against the US

The Antigua Sun reports that while the United States Trade Representative said Antigua’s proposed compensation claim at $3.4 billion is nearly four times larger than the island’s entire economy and a more realistic figure for lost exports of gambling services should be no greater than $3 million per year, Antigua's WTO Attorney Mark Mendel said he was a little bit hopeful that the United States were finally coming to a recognition that they have a problem with Antigua.

"I sense that they are beginning to realize that they need to come to some kind of agreeable solution," Mendel said.

Antigua and the United States will meet again some time in October, but Mendel said he was also preparing to file with the WTO to suspend Antigua's trade obligations in other areas such as the protections of trademarks, copyrights and intellectual patents.

Meanwhile in the United States, as Barney Frank's IGREA continues to gain recognition with Congressman William Delahunt becoming the 37th co-sponsor of the internet gambling bill, the US Department of Justice and the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association are preparing to meet tomorrow in a New Jersey court to discuss the iMEGA's challenge to the online gambling ban.