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[underdog51]

Antigua Planning To Play Its Trump Card -- Piracy

March 24, 2008

Riddle: What do you call piracy when it becomes legal?

Answer: Sweet justice.

Antigua appears to be preparing to follow through on its rightful plan to seek meaningful reparations in its ongoing WTO dispute with the US regarding America's unlawful oppression of online gambling.

10-second recap... USA has deemed online gambling unlawful, and yet allows horsetrack wagering online. This is an international no-no, and flies in contravention of America's policy in virtually every other situation. Antigua sued. WTO agreed with Antigua and awarded a miniscule $21M in damages, but also the right to seek damages in other markets, such as IP-based industries as music, film, and pharmaceuticals. US is shit out of luck, and yet still won't budge on the gambling issue.

Got that?

Well, Antigua appears to be readying itself to begin its war on American intellectual property, as Variety is reporting this week. And America still seems to be playing the situation as if Antigua is bluffing.

Quote from USTR spokesman Sean Spicer, "Antigua would be breaking the law if it did that".

Uh. No. Maybe they would be breaking American law, but not international law. America is the one who is breaking international law.

Antigua is completely right to follow through on this threat, and I hope they do. Not only would they be looking out for their citizens and economy, but it would send an important message that nobody - not even America - can get away with unlawful actions.

Antigua is now hoping for the affected industries to push for America to bend on this matter, and that plan may be working as some industry execs are starting to sound a bit worried.

According to the MPAA: "The proposed retaliation would be impossible to manage. The real and resulting economic harm would vastly exceed any amount the (WTO) might approve, even the grossly exaggerated amount ($3.4 billion) for which Antigua seeks approval, plus the economic harm would extend to other WTO members."

Boo-hoo!

According to the story, Antigua's legal representative has recommended that they proceed with the plan by the end of this month.

So don't buy any music or DVDs for another week or so, because shortly you may be able to get them cheap from Antigua.