Countdown Is On

Christmas has a 2,000 year tradition. Yes - sales are only the latest custom to add to it. a little more established is the Advent calendar, counting the days to Christmas.

Well, with the World Trade Organization Internet gambling compensation ruling expected November 30, a new countdown is in place.

Disclaimer: We do not imply that it is of the status of the birth of Christ. But the implications of it might be of global and dramatic significance like few witnessed in recent years.

In nine days, the WTO will rule on the compensation claim, filed by Antigua and Barbuda, a small island nation in the Caribbean, of only 80,000, over the ban on online gambling in place in the United States. It claims damages of $3.4 billion, which it will demand sanctioned in the form of harboring pirated intellectual property.

The US claims the sums are much smaller.

With the deadline looming and the days marked off the calendar as we approach November 30, sanctions are as close as ever to be extracted by Antigua and Barbuda, as well as by the European Union.

If arbitration efforts fail and the US decides to withdraw from the WTO trade agreements on Internet gambling, the consequences may be grave. In fact, several Congress Representatives, including Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, have expressed surprise that the American Trade Representative to the WTO has not consulted with Congress on possible solutions.

The American policy may turn out to be a double-edged sword. "This might be regarded and is regarded by many as a cynical manipulation of the system - you lose the game, so you try and change the rules," said WTO arbitration expert and NYU Law Professor Joseph Weiler.

Besides the political implications, over 10 million Americans have played poker online for money last year, according to estimates made by the Poker Players Alliance. Discrimination against foreign providers put aside for a minute, the US policy hurts many Americans too.