Latest Antigua – US talks fail

The resumed talks last week on a settlement of the Antigua vs. U.S.A. World Trade Organisation dispute  appear to have failed.

A Reuters report from Geneva Friday claims that the Antiguans will tell the WTO on Monday that they intend to use WTO-approved trade sanctions against the United States, which may involve allowing movie downloads without protecting U.S. copyright.

Since 2003 the Caribbean islanders have consistently won WTO dispute panel exchanges against the US for its discriminatory legal moves against online gambling, which have all but scuppered the burgeoning licensing and support industry that used to flourish on the islands.

In the dispute panel arguments, Antigua won the right to hit back with trade sanctions and – with little hope of persuading Washington by threatening to block U.S. imports to the nation of 70,000 – it was given permission to use intellectual property measures instead.

“American intellectual property rights holders are fighting piracy across the globe. They hate the theft of their intellectual property rights and they spend enormous sums trying to prevent it,” Mark Mendel, a lawyer representing Antigua in the case, told Reuters.

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