GENEVA – The United States should face commercial sanctions worth more than $3.4 billion each year for its failure to comply with a World Trade Organization ruling that its Internet gambling restrictions are illegal, the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda said Wednesday.

Antigua, which won a WTO ruling last year against the U.S. restrictions, is asking the trade body for authorization to target American trademarks and copyrights if the U.S. refuses to alter its legislation.

It said the sanctions would come into effect “shortly,” unless the United States requests a WTO arbitration panel on the level and scope of the sanctions.

“While we realize this is a significant step for Antigua and Barbuda to take, we feel we have no other choice in the matter,” Antigua’s Finance Minister L. Errol Cort said in a statement.

“Until such time as the United States is willing to work with us on achieving a reasonable solution to this trade dispute, we will continue to use every legitimate remedy available to protect the interests of our citizens,” he said.

The move by Antigua comes a day after the European Union told the United States it too wanted compensation for the U.S. ban on foreign online gambling sites.

U.S. trade officials were not immediately available for comment.

Antigua argues that before the ban was introduced, online gambling provided income for hundreds of its citizens and helped end its reliance on tourism, which was hurt by a series of hurricanes in the late 1990s.

Last year Washington stopped U.S. banks and credit card companies from processing payments to online gambling businesses outside the country.

The decision closed off the most lucrative region in a market worth $15.5 billion last year. About half of the world’s online gamblers are based in the United States.

The World Trade Organization ruled in December that the law unfairly targeted offshore casinos, telling the U.S. it could keep restrictions against sport betting in place if they were also applied to American businesses.

Who:  Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-Nev)
Date:  Wednesday, June 20th
Time:  7pm West 10pm East Coast
Where:  “Pumped On Poker” on Holdem Radio
 
Details: Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) on “Pumped On Poker” on Holdem Radio to discuss the recent move by the U.A. to collect damages from the United States, and update poker players on The Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2046).
 
How to tune in:  To tune in go to www.holdemradio.com and click ON AIR to listen live.  Private playback and iPod downloads will be available.  Internet brodcast will play live on your media player.
 
Hosts:  Marc aka Forrest Pump & Jason aka Wolf
 
Contact:  Marc at 916.344.7437 or info@suitedpockets.net

For Immediate
Release                                                  
Contact: Sharon White
June 19, 2007                                                                                         202-715-1507

US Sets
Dangerous Precedent by Ignoring WTO Commitments Relative to Internet Gaming 

Read the rest of this entry »

BATON ROUGE (AP) — A bill that would let bars and restaurants in Louisiana hold the popular Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournaments is headed to the full Senate for debate after winning approval from a Senate committee.

The tournaments have been the subject of dispute because the state’s top liquor regulator believes they violate Louisiana’s gambling laws. Supporters of the bill say they don’t view the poker games as gambling as long as the bars and restaurants don’t get a cut of the wagering.

The bill by Rep. Warren Triche of Thibodaux would allow the businesses to hold poker tournaments once a week for people at least 21 years old as long as the owner

doesn’t get part of the proceeds and doesn’t charge an entrance fee.

The bars and restaurants wouldn’t be able to operate the tournament, furnish supplies like cards and poker chips, or advertise beyond their regular business signs.

Opponents say the tournaments would hurt charitable gaming operations and the bill would expand gambling in Louisiana to more than 20,000 bars.

Triche sponsored a similar bill last year, but it couldn’t win passage in the House. This year, the House narrowly approved the measure. A Senate judiciary committee agreed to it in a 3-1 vote today, sending it to the Senate floor.

If it receives Senate approval, it faces an uncertain future because Gov. Kathleen Blanco has opposed it as an expansion of gambling.

 
Orleans Parish is excluded from the bill.

In an effort to allow PPA members and supporters to discuss poker
legislation and organize at the state and local levels for Poker
Freedom Vote 2006, we have created a forum space for members to
interact:

The Poker Players Alliance Member Action Network Forums

or go to: http://webringamerica.com/4/pokerplayersalliance

You will have to create a username and password to post in the forums.

Please register and post to start sharing thoughts and ideas with
other PPA Members and supporters. Because these forums are just
starting up, please help out by posting when you can.

These State and Local Chapter Forums are meant for PPA Members from
the same areas to interact, discuss, and organize statewide and local
initiatives to help raise awareness of the PPA and its mission. So if
you want to start something or offer your local support, please
register and post in the appropriate state forum.

Learn

Action Ideas

Volunteer

Donate

Promote

Vote

The Poker Players Alliance are looking for volunteers who are
interested in the raising awareness of the PPA, its mission, and
helping with membership drives on the local level, for example:

• working with local cardrooms
• working with local poker leagues
• coordinating local PPA activities
• distributing membership materials
• creating local PPA chapters
• contacting local media
• getting involved with local elections

PPA President Michael Bolcerek has set a goal for 1 million members
for 2007. We are over 100,000 strong now, so imagine if we played Doyle
Brunson’s hand (10-2) and had each member talk to 10 poker players for
2 minutes about the PPA.

As the Member Action Network is in the planning stages, we would
like to get feedback from our members and talk to those interested
volunteering at the local level. Check out the PPA Member Action Network forums.

Please send ideas, feedback, interest to: volunteers@pokerplayersalliance.org

The Poker Players Alliance also invites artists and anyone else to
create logos, slogans, online banners, print designs (bumper stickers,
t-shirts), videos, and even songs. There are numerous ways to
creatively express our voice about protecting poker player rights and
making online poker legal.

While we can’t print and distribute these to supporters and members,
we can put them in one central place online for others to download,
print, and use at the local level. Spread the word about the PPA and
defend your right to play poker.

Feel free to take a look at our key points in creating your work.

Send us your creations at volunteers@pokerplayersalliance.org and thanks for supporting the PPA and poker players everywhere.

For more ideas on what can be done, click here

The European Union told the United States on Tuesday that it wanted
compensation for a U.S. ban on foreign online gambling sites, which
doesn’t comply with global trade rules.

British online gaming operators such as Sportingbet PLC and Leisure
& Gaming PLC were forced to quit the profitable U.S. market last
year when Washington stopped U.S. banks and credit card companies from
processing payments to online gambling businesses outside the country.

The decision closed off the most lucrative region in a market worth
$15.5 billion (11.6 billion euros) last year. About half of the world’s
online gamblers are based in the United States.

But an EU official said the concessions Europe was looking for would likely be “commitments” to open up other trade sectors.

“We need new concessions that would be equal with the benefits
lost,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not
authorized to be quoted by name in media reports.

Initial negotiations would focus on measuring the loss to European businesses, he said, warning that talks would take some time.

The World Trade Organization ruled in December that the law unfairly
targeted offshore casinos, telling the U.S. it could keep restrictions
against sport betting in place if they were also applied to American
businesses.

The EU – the world’s largest consumer market – joins the tiny
Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda in seeking compensation. The
twin-island nation argued that online gambling had provided income for
hundreds of its citizens and was helping to end its reliance on
tourism, which was hurt by a series of hurricanes in the late 1990s.

After losing the case, the U.S. announced that it would take the
unprecedented legal step of changing the international commitments it
made as part of a 1994 treaty regulating trade in services among the
150 members of the WTO. As a result, the U.S. declined to challenge the
WTO ruling, because it says that its legal maneuver effectively ends
the case.

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, the Democratic congressman who chairs the
committee that oversees financial services, introduced a bill in April
that would reverse the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act – but
his plan faces long odds in Congress and likely opposition from the
Bush administration.

Associated Press Writer Bradley S. Klapper in Geneva contributed to this report.

What Else Can I Do?
Suggested Ideas

PPA Members and Concerned Citizens

1. Write a letter, call, or visit your Members of Congress (talking points and congress meeting guide)
2. Vote! Find out where your state representatives stand on legalizing online poker and vote accordingly. Tell others about how you’re voting and why.
3. Voice your opinion with phone calls or letters to your local media (newspapers, radio shows, local tv station).
4. Become a free PPA member and get important notifications.
5. Become a paid PPA Member or donate more.
6. Tell a friend about joining the PPA [mail link]
7. Volunteer at the local level, as well as in providing local information and support in the PPA Member Action Network forums.
8. Have creative ideas? Make it happen!
9. Have a website? Add a banner.

Poker Players

1. Wear your PPA shirt when you go play at your local cardroom.
2. Have “tableside chats” and talk about the PPA and the online poker ban with your fellow cardplayers at the table.
3. Talk to your local cardroom manager about posting the latest newsletter, hanging a PPA poster.
4. Take a picture of yourself in your PPA shirt at your favorite cardroom and send it to us or add it to our Flickr group page

Online Poker Players

1. Change your poker player image or avatar to show the PPA logo.
2. Have “tableside chats” and talk about the PPA and the online poker ban with other online players at the table.
3. Get some fellow PPA supporters and ask your online poker site to offer a PPA membership drive tournament.
4. Ask them to include information about the PPA in their next member newsletter.

Professional Poker Players

1. Call us and leave a recorded message voicing your support for the PPA (example), email us for instructions.
2. Send us an email with permission to use your quotes for membership materials.
3. Mention the PPA (or wear your PPA shirt) in your media appearances for web, radio, print, or tv. (and let us know!)
4. Ask poker players if they are familiar with the PPA, and urge others to get involved.

Poker Organizations, Industry Professionals, and Businesses:

1. Offer special discounts or promotions to PPA members
2. Link on your site to the PPA
3. Add information about the PPA to your newsletters
4. Sponsor events supporting the PPA
5. Issue a press release or talk to local media about supporting the PPA
6. Donate

Bloggers, Podcasters, and other Online Media Publishers

1. Add a PPA banner or logo to your website. If there is not one you like, then feel free to create your own (and send us a copy too!)
2. Post a blog, Record a podcast, or Edit/Upload a video about the PPA or H.R.4411. Notify us so we can tell other members about your work.
3. Get on the PPA Action Alert Media List to help the PPA quickly publicize an Action Alert.
4. Mention the PPA in your online poker communities, forums, and discussions.
5. Join the PPA Myspace page.
6. Join the discussion at the PPA Member Action Network Forum
7. Add photos to the PPA Flickr group page
8. Link to any of our websites.

You have other ideas? Send us an email and let us know