Crist's editorial

[JJP]

I'll paraphrase it, if you haven't seen it from Sunday's DRF.

"Leaders of the American racing industry cheered and congratulated themselves last October when Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act of 2006. Racing's position was that the Act would end the flow of American dollars into offshore and foreign gambling sites.

Now efforts are now underway in the House to repeal the Act because it has turned a minor trade-treaty dispute into a serious international incident--one with stakes so high that racing's lifeblood of interstate simulcasting could now be in real jeopardy.

The trade dispute stems from a 2005 ruling by the World Trade Organization, responding to a protest by Antigua.

According to Nelson Rose, a professor at Whittier College and the nation's leading authority on gambling law, "taking ridiculous positions can lead to more than losing a case," said Rose. "It is insulting to the judges and can tempt a decision maker to re-examine the entire record, to find more things wrong. The WTO now declared that not only U.S. federal laws , but also the laws of many states, discriminate against Antigua's licensed Internet operators. And that the U.S. discriminates not only on cross border betting on horse races, but on all forms of remote wagering."

The New York Times reported on Friday that the European Union, India and Japan have joined Antigua in filing complaints about the U.S.'s ongoing violation of the ruling, and that some of these nations are now proposing WTO sanctions and talking about refusing to pay royalties on American copyrights in retaliation. The diplomatic and financial ramifications of WTO sanctions could make interstate wagering on racing a sacrificial offering.

"The US is now left with only a few options, and none of them are good," said Rose. "Congress could outlaw all remote wagering.....which would mean devastating these industries and throwing tens of thousands of people out of work."

It is now time to concede that the war against Internet wagering has been lost in the courts of both domestic public opinion and international law. In the long run, racing will be better served by aligning itself with those seeking legal and regulated wagering through all forms of communications technology rather than by supporting the imposition of medieval morality in the 21st century.

Well put.

I want my damn rebates!!

[JJP]

I think its only a matter of time before they are back en masse. Probably when the current administration exits office (not a moment too soon, I may add).