Territorial Implications of Antigua's Internet-Based IP Sanctions Against the US (Guest Blog Post) By Guest Blogger Marketa Trimble At the end of January 2013, the WTO authorized Antigua to suspend its intellectual property obligations toward the United States in retaliation for the United States’ breach of WTO rules. There are at least three reasons why the decision and the potential internet-based implementation of the retaliation are notable.
First, the case shows the inherent danger that exists when IP issues are included in general trade negotiations and trade treaties, such as the WTO negotiations and the TRIPS Agreement (the danger exists alongside the possible benefits that such an inclusion provides in the form of improved enforceability of countries’ IP obligations). At a conference on the TRIPS Agreement held in April 2011, I noted that putting IP issues in a “basket” with other trade issues could lead to some IP rights being bargained away for trade advantages, and that IP rights might even become the subject of trade sanctions. [Photo credit: Antigua flag // ShutterStock] Antigua Advances Toward WTO-Authorized Piracy Website. International law may soon allow the Caribbean island of Antigua to sell copyrighted movies, TV shows, music, games and software online without paying a penny to studios and other content owners.
Antigua today accepted a World Trade Organization decision authorizing it to sell up to $21 million annually in U.S. intellectual property without paying royalties. WTO says the appropriation of U.S. copyrights is justified to compensate for U.S. trade sanctions that crippled the tiny island’s online gambling industry. In a statement to the WTO, Antiguan High Commissioner to the UK Carl Roberts paraphrased Bob Dylan: “[As] an American musician once said, ‘When you have nothing you have nothing to lose’”. Deputy Assistant U.S. The WTO’s ruling in the decade-long dispute is more significant as a precedent to justify copyright infringement than it is as a way to compensate Antigua. Antigua gets WTO approval to become copyright haven - News. News Antigua gets WTO approval to become copyright haven Wednesday, January 30, 2013 LONDON (AP) — Americans call it piracy. Antiguans call it justice. The islands of Antigua and Barbuda are threatening to strip intellectual property protections from American goods as part of a long-running trade dispute over the US embargo on the tiny Caribbean nation's online gambling industry.
US officials say the proposed copyright haven — whose broad outlines were approved Monday at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva — amounts to "government-authorised piracy. " "We have followed the rules and procedures of the WTO to the letter," Antigua's high commissioner to London, Carl Roberts, said in a statement Monday. The US and Antigua have been tussling for years over the ability of Americans to use online casinos based in the Caribbean nation. The WTO, however, has come down on Antigua's side.
"We aren't going to be flaunting the rules," he said in a telephone interview last week. For legal free downloads head to Antigua & Barbuda.
World Trade Organization. Background of legal conflict. WTO gives Antigua green light to pursue sanctions on US | Legal News. January 29, 2013 The World Trade Organization gave Antigua and Barbados the go-ahead to proceed its imposition of sanctions on the United States, paving the way for the small Caribbean country to seek retribution against its much more powerful neighbor up north. Antigua’s justified gripe against the US stems from the latter’s decision to ban Internet gambling among its residents, a move that Antigua bemoaned as an unfair trade restriction that has severely crippled the small Caribbean country, costing its economy around $3 billion a year in revenue. Antigua has repeatedly brought up the issue to the World Trade Organization with the latter ruling in 2004 that the US-imposed ban violates the 1994 General Agreement on Trade in Services. In 2007, the WTO ordered the US to pay Antigua $21 million a year in compensation for debilitating the country’s economy.
Since then, the US has paid Antigua with nothing more than veiled threats, allowing the compensation to balloon to over $100 million. Untitled. U.S. warns Antigua against government-authorized piracy. WTO Allows Antigua to Open Piracy Site | Threat Level. Antigua Cocos Beach. Photo: l.conti/Flickr Antigua and Barbuda have been given the power by the World Trade Organization to sell or give away U.S. copyrighted media downloads without compensation to the rights holders. The WTO issued the ruling suspending U.S. copyrights in the islands late Monday, and is part of the fallout over a 2007 legal flap concerning online gambling. Antigua’s lawyer, Mark Mendel, told Wired’s sister publication, Wired.co.uk, that he was unsure when a possible Pirate Bay-like website offering games, movies, software and movies might be up and running. “We are definitely working on it and are hopeful that the U.S. will choose to negotiate fairly and honestly in the very near future so that we do not ultimately have to implement the remedy,” he said.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is clearly unhappy with the move, which it said would “sour” business. We’ll let you know if and when the piracy site becomes available. WTO Approves Suspension of US Copyright in Antigua. Pirates of the Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda Turn From Internet Gambling to Legalized Piracy. WTO ruling emboldens pirates of the Caribbean. High performance access to file storage Antigua and Barbuda, the small Caribbean nation perhaps best-known as the birthplace of cricketer Sir Vivian Richards, has won concessions from the World Trade Organisation that will allow it to suspend some of its intellectual property obligations.
The island nation has arrived in this position after fighting against the USA’s anti-offshore-gambling laws, which the Antiguan government says crippled a once-thriving industry. Harold Lovell, the nation’s minster for finance, the economy, and public administration, says gambling once employed 4,000 citizens, but that number has fallen below 500 in the wake of the USA’s 2003 ban on cross-border gambling. A dispute over the legality of that ban and any compensation due to Antigua has been burbling along ever since at the World Trade Organisation, which Lovell now says in a statement has come up with “a lawful suspension of intellectual property rights” as a remedy. Over to you, Jack: Dispute With Antigua and Barbuda Threatens U.S. Copyrights. Antigua Set to Become Legal Pirate Haven? A small Caribbean island nation of fewer than 90,000 people could become the first legal haven for pirated content on the Internet. The World Trade Organization confirmed on Monday an earlier decision granting Antigua and Barbuda (which in English translates to "Antique and Bearded") the right to suspend U.S. copyrights, paving the way for a government-run pirate website full of U.S. copyrighted content like movies, TV shows, music and software.
The latest decision technically allows Antigua to launch an online website where it can sell access to U.S. copyrighted material without having to compensate whoever holds the legal rights to those materials. Think of a legally-approved Pirate Bay that requires a membership fee, for example. This is just the latest chapter in a dispute that's been going on for more than a decade — and it all started because of online gambling. In the meantime, Antigua's gambling industry has collapsed. The American response, so far, has been negative. Antigua and Barbuda - Member information. Antigua applies for permission to run 'pirate' website. 25 January 2013Last updated at 09:00 ET The row blew up following a US clampdown on cross-border gambling Antigua is seeking permission to run a website that sells music, movies and software - but ignores copyright law.
The Caribbean island is due to appear before the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 28 January seeking permission to run the site. The decision to set up the site is the end point of a long-running dispute with the US over gambling. The US has objected to Antigua's plan saying it amounted to official "piracy" of intellectual property. Officials from the Antiguan government will make their plea before the WTO's dispute settlement body on Monday to get "final authorisation" to set up the site, Mark Mendel, a lawyer representing the island nation told the BBC. Antigua went to the WTO after the US moved to stop American citizens using gambling services, including web-based betting shops and casinos, run from the Caribbean country. 'Official pirates'
Antigua’s Legal “Pirate Site” Authorized by the World Trade Organization. During a meeting in Geneva today the World Trade organization (WTO) authorized Antigua's request to suspend U.S. copyrights. The decision confirmed the preliminary authorization the Caribbean island received in 2007, and means that the local authorities can move forward with their plan to start a download portal which offers movies, music and software without compensating the American companies that make them. Last week we broke the news that the island nation Antigua and Barbuda wants to start a Government run “pirate” site. Today, this plan came a step closer to reality when the Caribbean country received authorization from the WTO to suspend U.S. copyrights during a meeting in Geneva.
This decision affirms the preliminary approval that was granted to Antigua in 2007 after the country won a gambling related trade dispute against the United States. Antigua’s Finance Minister Harold Lovell said in a comment that the U.S. left his Government no other option than to respond in this manner. WTO Approves Antiguan Pirate Website, U.S. Not Happy. Last week we told you about Antigua’s plan launch a website to distribute American content while ignoring United States copyright laws.
Earlier this week, the World Trade Organization (WTO) the group gave Antigua the green light to move forward with the pirate website that Antigua still refuses to call a pirate website. To nobody’s surprise, representatives from the United States are not happy about this situation. The legality of the site depends on who you ask. American says it violates copyrights. The World Trade Organization says Antigua is allowed to violate U.S. copyrights, and Antigua says that really, they just want to get back to hosting Internet gambling.
Antigua was given preliminary approval to shirk U.S. copyright back in 2007, but yesterday’s authorization takes them one step closer to launching the site. Government-authorized piracy would undermine chances for a settlement that would provide real benefits to Antigua. Officials from Antigua don’t see it that way. Statement by the United States at the December 17, 2012, DSB Meeting » US Mission Geneva.
Antigua Declares War On The US Entertainment Industry.