Now this is a bit of a turn up for the books. The story has been around for some years now and terribly amusing it is too.
Back in the day when internet gambling was legal in the US a goodly portion of such gambling was run from websites with their bases in Antigua. At one point this industry employed 5% or so of the working population of the islands (yes, islands, the place is really Antigua and Barbuda). Although everyone would stoutly deny this it was really a tax thing to be based there.
A little bit later the US decided that internet gambling with companies based inside the US was OK but not with those offshore. This was before the US got really Puritan and decided that online gambling just wasn?t to be allowed in the US at all. At which point Antigua got a little peeved. Understandably so: this is arguably trade protection. Only American companies are allowed to have gambling sites for Americans to gamble upon. And of course, Antigua was going to have little luck in getting Uncle Sam to listen to any complaints they might have.
Fortunately, trade is now a law based area of life. Those laws really being contracts which are signed at the world Trade Organisation (WTO). And there?s courts, a dispute resolution system and everything. And one of the rules in the WTO is that each and every country is equal. So Antigua takes the dispute there and they win (as they were obviously going to, based upon the treaty that the US had signed).
As I recall it the US was supposed to pay compensation: which hasn?t been forthcoming. WTO rules then say that if you?ve been wronged in trade by a country then you?re allowed to retaliate against that country in a trade manner. This is what all these ?anti-dumping? cases we hear about are concerning. And the US is certainly ready enough to use those so cannot complain too much when the same treaties and WTO mean that it can be ?trade attacked?.
Which is where it gets a little strange. For the judgement was that Antigua could now sell US copyright material without having to pay the US copyright holders. Yes, copyright protection is now written into the WTO rules (it?s all part of TRIPS) so retaliation against US copyright holders for US trade restrictions is indeed a poossible solution.
Which leaves us with this report from TorrentFreak:
The Government of Antigua is planning to launch a website selling movies, music and software, without paying US copyright holders.
And:
Antigua?s attorney Mark Mendel told TorrentFreak that he can?t reveal any details on the plans. However, he emphasized that the term ?piracy? doesn?t apply here as the WTO has granted Antigua the right to suspend US copyrights.
?There is no body in the world that can stop us from doing this, as we already have approval from the international governing body WTO,? Mendel told us.
It all really would be legal under international law. For the government of Antigua to be selling US copyright items without paying those copyright holders for them.
As I understand it, it?s up to the US government to compensate the copyright holders: for it is they who hasve been delinquent in paying Antigua for the trade rules violations.
What really makes this entirely delicious is that there are many people who have said that TRIPS, this idea of adding copyright to the WTO, was the wrong way to go about protecting copyrights and patents. I?m one of them. But it was very much the US that kept insisting that they should be included in these world trade rules. Now they are included: but it?s the US finding the rules attacking US copyright, not protecting it.
Source: http://www.completeblogging.com/?p=4829
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