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Europe and USA at Loggerheads over Online Gambling

In the history of the world, whenever there have been conflicts, the United States and Europe have stood shoulder to shoulder to fight off evil regimes. However, for one of the first times in history, the Continent and the US are at loggerheads over an issue that threatens to spoil the relationship between the two regions – online gambling.

The problems began when the United States passed its controversial Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006. The law essentially barred offshore gambling operators from entering the US gambling market and offering their products. Financial transactions between US gamblers and offshore companies were not honored, making it extremely difficult for these operators to stay in business. Many in fact were forced out of the US industry and lost a major portion of their businesses, while others had to change direction and concentrate on the European market or expand to Asia or Latin America.

While some companies insisted on staying on in the US market, despite the UIGEA, the US authorities soon began what many have termed a ‘witch hunt’. The staff, many of them executives, of non-US gambling companies suddenly found themselves with a bounty on their heads, arrest warrants out for them and unable to enter US borders. On the other hand, the US authorities, in many cases, turned a blind eye to local gambling companies who offered the same services.

This matter infuriated European gambling companies who accused the United States government of double standards and an exclusionist policy. They demanded to know why their own companies and executives were being persecuted, while their American counterparts were not.

The matter was finally taken up with the European Commission – an entity that is extremely pro open-border gambling within the European Union and anti-monopoly. The European Commission was asked to intervene on behalf of these gambling operators to see whether anything could be done to remove the pressure and, perhaps, urge the Bush government to remove the ridiculous UIGEA and replace it with a regulated, open and fair gambling industry.

In an unprecedented move, the European Commission decided to launch an official investigation into the issue and to send representatives to the United States to question authorities to see whether this was genuinely a case of persecution against European-based companies. Industry analysts have said that if the Commission did not feel that there were sufficient grounds for a case against the United States, it would not have pushed for an official investigation.

As of now, the European Commission’s representatives have still not landed a meeting with US authorities over this matter. A series of meetings was scheduled to be held last month but, unsurprisingly, were cancelled by the US Trade Representative’s office and put off to an as of yet unspecified date.

If the EU finds that the United States is acting out in a way that blatantly prejudices European-based companies, it might even push for trade sanctions at a high level. Time will tell what the outcome of this conflict will be.

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