Antigua could hit U.S. with copyright-free downloads

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Fbone

It would require a change to state constitutions and some states would potentially lose a lot more than $21 million if they permitted international online gambling.

Then there's another solution. The USA just as to ban ALL online gambling.

What they are not allowed to do is allow online gambling run by US firms, but not by foreign firms. Which is, of course, precisely what they're currently doing. Not to mention arresting and jailing an executive of such a foreign firm.

[JoeD]

If the ruling is that Antigua can make 21 million each year, could they not sell a given movie for a ridiculously low price point. Since I assume the point is to make the US back down on gambling not actually earn any real money from it.

So, lets for arguments sake say they sold various new bluray releases as a digital download for 1p more than the cost of distribution per copy. By the time they'd reach the 21 million cut off for that year, they may have managed to cause a significantly larger amount of losses in revenue than $21 million for the US based studios who's films are been sold so cheap.

Is there anything that would restrict them setting such a low price if they decide to press ahead?

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by JoeD

Is there anything that would restrict them setting such a low price if they decide to press ahead?

No that I am aware off. From what I've read in the German press they are contemplating a monthly flat rate (5$? Something like that. At 60$ per year that would put the cap at 350k customers.)

[QuantumIguana]

Or, they could just pull out of the WTO.

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Or, they could just pull out of the WTO.

That would cause them a lot of problems renegotiating terms with every country that was otherwise covered by been a member of the WTO.

No guarantees countries would even agree to the US' new terms either. It'd depend on which country relied on the other for import/export the most. Either way, I would imagine that'd be pretty messy.

[BuddyBoy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Would it not be easier simply for the US government to abide by the WTO's ruling on online gambling sites? That appears to be the issue at the root of this problem.

Fat chance of that. We couldn't even get them to abide by the WTO rulings with respect to Canadian lumber, and we're one of their top trading partners and their number one supplier of foreign oil.