June 15, 2009 (CAP Newswire) — Last week, the European Commission (the European Union's regulatory branch) finally released a long-awaited report regarding the United States’ non-compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules regarding international trade practices violated by unfair enforcement of online gambling laws.
The commission had long been threatening this report, stating repeatedly its dissatisfaction with how the U.S. enforces its anti-online gambling laws, calling it a “barrier to market access on EU economic interests”. It also claims that the way the U.S. favors its own domestic horse racing gambling companies while restricting foreign companies from competing in the same market is essentially a “discriminatory practice that violates the international code”.
“Equally significant is the assertion that companies like Las Vegas Sands Corporation offered free internet games to Europeans without allowing other companies to fairly compete,” writes Jennifer Newell in an article for Bluff Magazine.
The report is being filed with the WTO; whether further action is imminent or if the EU will continue to give new President Barack Obama time to heal these wounds before more formal action is taken remains to be seen.
For more info, please read the original report at Bluff Magazine, here.