Antigua “desperate” for US igaming resolution

Antigua and Barbuda claims that the resulting trade dispute has cost the twin-island nation some US$200 million, about four-fifths the estimated cost of reconstruction after Irma. The conflict dates to the 1990s, when online gambling soared in popularity.

According to the industry website GamingZion, Antigua was the first country to license online casino sites in 1994. At its height, Antigua’s gaming industry employed 4,000 people, including call center employees, marketers and IT professionals, and generated around US$3.4 billion annually in revenues, Antiguan officials said.

But concern over the practice, along with pressure from the domestic casino industry, prompted U.S. authorities to crack down, using an obscure law outlawing the use of telephone or wire communications to make bets. Then, in 2006, the U.S. passed regulations cracking down on internet gambling.

Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda's ambassador to the US, is reported to have said that the US has offered to pay Antigua less than US$2 million to settle the trade dispute. An offer he called "unacceptable”.

Source: GMB / LA Times