| March 18 - The United States has reached an agreement with yet another
country that made claims for compensation over the US's refusal to allow foreign
operators to compete in its local gambling industry.
The Costa Rican Tico Times reported that an agreement has been reached
between the two countries and was acceptable to both sides. Costa Rica's Foreign
Trade Minister, Mr. Marco Ruiz, said in a written statement: "The agreement has
been satisfactory to the country".
The agreement, similar to those reached with other countries and regions such
as Canada, Japan and the European Union, offers Costa Rica greater access to
previously off-limit service markets, including storage, research and
development. This agreement comes as compensation for excluding Costa Rica
online gambling operators from competing in the US betting industry, a
violation of the World Trade Organization regional treaty signed in previous
years.
The Costa Rica online gambling industry was hard hit after the
United States' decision to alter its agreement with the WTO, instead of changing
its controversial gambling legislation such as the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act. However, by doing so, the United States opened itself up to
compensation claims from practically every region around the globe. To date, the
country has reached settlement agreements with a large number of these countries
and jurisdictions but refuses to budge when it comes to changing local gambling
laws.
The United States has long cited the social ills brought about by
gambling as the main reason for coming down so hard on the industry. However,
authorities turn a blind eye to local operators who run online horse racing and
lottery services, yet still continue to prosecute foreign operators such as
those from the Costa Rica online gambling industry.
Experts predict that the United States will eventually need to
change its laws because of mounting internal and international pressure.
| 
