machine-envy

In an extraordinary move the WTO has ruled with Antigua that it was illegal for the US to block online gambling. What makes this extra bizzare is that the compensation is to be claimed by allowing Antigua to violate American intellectual property.

The reaction of the US is to rewrite the rules: “In May, the United States said it was rewriting its trade rules to remove gambling from the jurisdiction of the W.T.O.” It seems to me a little odd to have a trade organisation where members pick and choose rules, but that never stopped the UK doing so with the EU.