In an unusual ruling at the WTO, the Caribbean nation of Antigua on Friday won the right to violate copyright protections on goods like films and music from the US, an award worth up to US$21 million, as part of a dispute between the two countries over online gambling.
The award follows a WTO ruling that Washington had wrongly blocked online gaming operators on the island from the US market at the same time it allowed online wagering on horse racing.
Antigua and Barbuda had claimed damages of US$3.44 billion a year. That makes the relatively small amount awarded on Friday something of a setback for Antigua, which had been struggling to preserve its gambling industry. The US claimed that its behavior had caused US$500,000 damage to the Antiguan economy.
Yet the ruling is significant in that it grants a rare form of compensation: the right of one country, in this case Antigua, to violate intellectual property laws of another, the US, by allowing it to distribute copies of US music, movie and software products.
"That has only been done once before and is, I believe, a very potent weapon," said Mark Mendel, a lawyer representing Antigua, after the ruling. "I hope that the United States government will now see the wisdom in reaching some accommodation with Antigua over this dispute."
Though Antigua is best known for its beaches and tourist attractions, online casinos based there are vital to its economy, serving as its second-largest employer.
By pressing its claim, trade lawyers said, Antigua could set a precedent for other countries to sue the US for unfair trade practices, potentially opening the door to electronic piracy and other dubious practices around the world.
Still, implementation will prove difficult, the lawyers say.
"Even if Antigua goes ahead with an act of piracy or the refusal to allow the registration of a trademark, the question still remains of how much that act is worth," said Brendan McGivern, a trade lawyer with White & Case in Geneva. "The Antiguans could say that's worth US$50,000, and then the US might say that's worth US$5 million -- and I can tell you that the US is going to dog them on every step of the way."
The US has aggressively fought Antigua's claims.
A WTO panel first ruled against the US in 2004, and its appellate body upheld that decision a year later. In April 2005, the trade body gave the US a year to comply with its ruling, but that deadline passed with little more than a statement from Washington that it had reviewed its laws and decided it has been in compliance.
From the start, the US has asserted that it never intended to allow free, cross-border gambling or betting. Those activities are restricted in the US, though some form of gambling is legal in 48 of 50 states.
In May, the US announced that it was rewriting its trade rules to remove gambling services from the jurisdiction of the WTO.
Washington has already agreed on deals with the EU, Canada and Japan to change the treaty but it has yet to reach agreements with several other nations, including Antigua.
On Friday, the US trade representative issued a stern warning to Antigua to avoid acts of piracy, counterfeiting or violations of intellectual property while negotiations are under way.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
RSS