29 States Upset Over WTO’s Gambling Ruling

 The United States is having some difficulty deciding what to do about online casinos. In April, a ruling by the World Trade Organization found it inappropriate to deny horse betters the right to bet. According to the WTO ruling, the federal law regarding the Interstate Horseracing Act was inappropriate when thinking of the rights and liberties of American citizens. Using this as precedence, a new meeting to be held by the WTO puts into question what the status will be for online casinos.

 Online casinos are by law illegal to be run out of the United States and the WTO wants to get rid of laws that will make people unable to use online casinos. 29 States are unhappy with this decision because they either do not want online casinos operating from their state, especially if their state, like Utah, defines gambling as illegal, or they just simply do not want outside sources making decisions for them. Online casinos are a profitable way to make money; however, there has been voiceover throughout these states that online casinos are deemed an unacceptable thing by part of the population. The WTO has used the federal law about gambling to show that there is a problem because the law does not clearly distinguish between home and foreign countries. This precedence is to be used to try to allow USA residents to freely use the online casinos based out of the Caribbean, Antigua. (Most online casinos are based out of the Caribbean). Attorney Generals have been picked as the representatives of the opposing states of the online casinos decision, including the state of New York and California.

 The representatives have focused on making it state regulation to determine what happens with gaming in regards to the individual state not the country. Online casinos have caused a storm of conversation, ranging from religious activists whom state that gambling leads to community problems as well as anti gambling organizations that help recovering gambling addicts and the like. The other end of this spectrum is those people that want gambling in heir state and are generally happy with the WTO’s involvement. However, there is a fear among all USA residents that if the WTO has decided to be the law binder in the subjects of horse betting and online casinos, they may try to take over in lotteries, Indian Gaming Rights and others. Rob Portman, whom is the US Trade Representative, has been accused of not doing more in stopping the WTO’s involvement and the 29 States involved have addressed the letter to him. The biggest issue here is that the fundamentalism involved in a society like that of the USA must let each state govern their own laws when it comes to online casinos and the like. The profits of online casinos in terms of economic prosperity is a factor that the states will be taking into consideration when deciding if to et the WTO online casinos rules stay or for it to be changed.