WTO DEAL A THREAT TO U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY??

8 February 2008

USTR declines to release details of US-EU deal in WTO dispute


The online sportsbetting information site 911 reports a shocking reaction from US government employees to a request for detail on the recently brokered US-European Union deal on compensation for the withdrawal of US WTO gambling agreements (see previous InfoPowa reports)

Headed appropriately "National Security Is Whatever We Say It Is," the report details the experiences of freelance journalist Ed Brayton, who pursued details of the compensation deal with the EU, Japan and Canada to write an article on the issue.

"What concessions did the U.S. make so its government could keep restricting the rights of it's citizens to play poker online? And how much would those concessions cost those citizens who were having their freedom constrained?" he asked after the US Trade Representative spokesperson refused to be drawn on the details.

Determined to get his story, Brayton filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for a copy of the agreement.

This was refused, and the explanation for this was that the information was "classified!"

The astonishing response from the US Trade Representative's office informed Brayton: "Please be advised that the document you seek is being withheld in full pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1), which pertains to information that is properly classified in the interest of national security pursuant to Executive Order 12958."

Brayton is critical of the government's refusal to be forthcoming on such sweeping grounds, saying: "Yes, the United States government is claiming that it's attempt to restrict Americans from gambling online is so important that their efforts are a matter of national security. And that whatever under-the-table deals they make that might cost taxpayers billions of dollars can be classified and hidden from public scrutiny as if they were nuclear launch codes.

"Americans, according to this administration, have no right to know how many billions of our tax dollars they've spent with no legislative authorization whatsoever in order to buy the cooperation of other nations and allow them to continue to violate the rights of American adults by preventing them from gambling in the privacy of their own home."

The journalist is currently filing an appeal against the arbitrary decision.

The US-EU deal could be revisited, according to reports last week that Costa Rica and Antigua have separately filed for World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitration, seeking compensation from the United States as a result of the U.S. withdrawal of its commitment on cross-border gambling services.

The new arbitration requests could potentially derail the settlement for compensation agreed to late last year by the U.S. and the E.U, because the new filings make it possible for the E.U. to reconsider its unpopular settlement with the U.S. and join the arbitration proceeding, opening up a new phase in the Internet gambling trade dispute.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa